Mischief with Rules: Remake
by FrozenBlossom
Summary: Complete The Blitzkrieg Boys find themselves at a private school where a trio of mischiefmakers run rampant. They befriend them and the boys just know they aren't what they seem. They have no proof that the girls are more than students-at least not yet.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is a major rewrite of Mischief with Rules. MWR:R will begin almost the same way, but then branch on in a different direction, as it's mother story was _suppose_ to have done but somehow... didn't._

_Updates will be every Friday/Saturday. Reviews and constructive criticism are always nice, if you have the time._

_**Disclaimer: All characters from the anime/manga Beyblade belong to Takao Aoki. Wolfy belongs to LilTanukiWolf. All other characters, unless otherwise specified, belong to me.**_

...

**Chapter 1**

It was a crisp and clear autumn morning; the sun was bright and cheerful but still failed to warm the chilly air to most people's satisfaction. One of which was a high school girl with her brown hair pulled back in a tight braid.

She looked at the school grounds as nostalgia filled her from head to toe, breathing deeply as she took in the sights and smells of her home for ten months of the year.

The woman behind her seemed to be her mother, a gentle faced person with a smile that lingered no matter her mood. She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and said, "Be careful, darling."

"I will, Mother, don't worry."

A devilish smile slowly spread across the older woman's face as she continued, "Don't forget to bathe every night and to change your-"

"Yes! Mother! I will not forget! Promise!" she exclaimed, embarrassed by the statement.

"Of course you will," her mother teased lovingly, waving a hand in the air as she spoke, "but a mother has to make sure."

"Sure you do. Can I go now? I have things to do, people to see..."

"Oh, of course, darling! You run along now. I'll call or email you soon."

"Thanks!" the girl waved, already halfway up the drive, two suitcases bumping along behind her.

Unable to hold it back, the woman grinned broadly – that was her daughter all right.

A teacher greeted the girl as she entered the buzzing dormitory. His smile seemed a little forced, which she understood – it was in their job description, to help move the students in at the beginning of the year. "Let me help you with that, Miss Hokoro," he hesitantly offered.

Smiling widely, she replied, "Why thank you, Mr Niwat. I appreciate it."

"No problem at all," he lied good naturally as he lifted one of her suitcases, grunting a little from the weight. "Did you pack everything you needed? ... or more?"

"No, I'm sure I have everything. If not, Mom will send more things next week."

"Which is your room?" he asked as they heaved her luggage up a set of stairs.

Other students and teachers were busy climbing and descending the stairs all around them. The place made the girl think of a beehive in full production – this thought made her smile to herself as she answered, "Sixty-one. It's right next to the stairs."

"Thank God," he muttered to himself, which caused his student to giggle. Mr. Niwat smiled sheepishly as they stepped on the third floor landing.

"See? Right there," she told him, finger pointing just a few metres down the hall where a door with the number '61' engraved in brass could be seen.

"Excellent."

"Just let me find my keycard..." she trailed off as she rummaged through the smaller bag she'd been carrying, producing her keycard moments later. "Aha! You can leave that there, Mr Niwat, I can manage from here on out. Thanks again!"

"No problem!" he happily replied before bounding back down the stairs.

Shaking her head, the girl unlocked the door and heaved her luggage inside. Once the door was closed she looked around and smiled. Nothing had changed.

The room had a single bed and a bunk bed. There was one long desk along the far wall with three chairs and three sets of drawers. A swivel chair was carefully tucked in beside each set of drawers while three desk lamps were tucked away in a corner, ready to be placed where they would be most useful. There was one closet, divided into three equal parts with shelves and drawers for all their clothing and things. There was one window in the very middle of the wall, currently covered with blinds so the room seemed rather dark.

Stepping up to the desk, she leaned forward and pulled them up, squinting as light poured into the room. Turning her back to the taunting sunlight, she grabbed her bags and began the arduous task of unpacking.

She had only begun to unzip her first bag when the door burst open, letting in the sounds of laughter and chatter. Turning around, she looked up at her beaming friend. "Hey there, Nadia!"

"Nyx! You're here early!" her friend exclaimed with much enthusiasm as she bounded forward, black hair swinging like a pendulum as she hugged her friend close.

"I'm not _always_ late y'know," she grimaced then laughed, returning the hug with one of her own. "It's good to be back here. How was France?"

"It was _extraordinaire, mon amie_," Nadia glowed, her cheeks rosy from the memories of the summer spent abroad. "You would not believe how massive the Louvre is in person! You must go next summer!"

"No can do, I'm to visit Italy, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Nadia's eyes grew wide at the thought. "Lucky!"

"Pshaw. Come on, let's get unpacked and look around the grounds. When Wolfy gets here we'll be able to give her all the new info she'll want."

"Think they actually remodelled the pool house?"

"We'll find out once we're done unpacking," Nyx nodded as she turned back to her luggage and began the weary task of putting everything in it's place.

It took some time, a little over half an hour, but the feeling they both felt as they put the last of their things away was worth the effort. "I'm starved," Nadia suddenly blurted out. "Think the cafeteria is open?"

"It better be," her friend snorted. "With most everyone arriving today they'd be mad not to have something out to feed us hungry monsters."

The cafeteria was just as busy as the dormitory, with both parents and offspring milling around in search of sustenance. There was some basic food laid out for the searching hands: cheese and crackers, sandwiches, salads, fruits and other such things that involved next to no preparation.

"I'm so glad Mom doesn't stick around after dropping us off," Nadia said with a happy sigh as a nearby parent scolded their son for not having proper table manners.

"Here, here," Nyx exclaimed as they toasted their orange juice in agreement.

"Oh, that reminds me!" the dark haired girl suddenly exclaimed, eyes widening at the memory. "There's a rumour mill going around about some new students."

"We get some every year," her friend replied with the wave of a hand. "It's nothing new. People try the entrance exams each year in hopes of being accepted."

"But this is _special_."

"Define '_special'_."

"Beybladers, the ones who made it to the final round of the world championships."

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "You mean the Russian team? The Blitzkrieg Boys?"

"Yes!" Nadia's eyes shown with excitement now. "To think, near champions in our school!"

"But they aren't _the_ world champions."

"Doesn't matter!" a quick wave of her hand showed Nyx how much her friend minded such an insignificant detail. "They went up against the _Bladebreakers_! I mean, come on! One of them use to _be_ one! They made it to the finals with talent and skill – who cares if they didn't win!"

"Alright, alright, you win!" Nyx giggled lightly. "So what do you plan to do about it?"

"About what?"

"Well you obviously want to meet them."

"I would love that!" she squealed, clapping a hand over her mouth as people turned around to stare. Only once the looks had turned away did she dare uncover her mouth and continue in a lower voice. "I would love that! You know how much I adore beyblading – to actually meet a team who reached the finals…" her voice drifted off as her expression turned dreamy.

"Like I said," Nyx continued, "What do you plan on doing about it?"

"I dunno," was the muttered reply as the dark haired girl pushed a leaf of lettuce around her plate. "I would probably make a fool of myself if I tried to talk to them."

"You could, oh I don't know, pretend they weren't '_celebrities_' and treat them as any other new student."

"That's easier said than done. I'm a beyblade fanatic here!"

"As am I, and yet… I go ga-ga over the actually beyblades, not the bladers."

"Oh ha-ha, Nyx, ha-ha."

"Just saying, just saying."

A smile slowly crept it's way onto Nadia's face. "You're as excited as I am, aren't you?"

The blush on Nyx's cheeks gave it away as her friend began to laugh. "Oh shush."

"Never! You want to meet them and get their autograph as much as I do!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"I don't want their silly autograph – I just want to watch them from the bushes and plan evil things." A dark look passed over her face as she laughed shrilly.

"Oh Nyx," her friend sighed heavily, shaking her head. "You know we don't do that to individual people."

"A girl can dream."

"True, true."

"Which reminds me, I thought of this wonderful idea over the summer of how we could welcome the new school year."

"Ohhhhh!" clapped Nadia, eager to hear more.

"But I'll wait 'til Wolfy gets here before saying anything."

"Oh come on!"

"Nope! Not happening!"

"Pleeaaassseeee?"

"No!"

"AWWWWWW!"

By the time afternoon was beginning to wane the girls could be found under an oak tree, drinking in the sunlight as they rested from their yearly exploration of the grounds. Both were content with what they'd found (the pool house had, indeed, been remodelled and now sported a wonderful hot tub) and with the people they'd met along the way.

"My brain is contradicting itself," Nyx said, breaking the silence.

"Why's that?"

"I'm glad to be back and yet… I don't want to go to class come Monday morning."

"It's the price you pay for the things you love. You can have them only if you sacrifice something in return."

"Stupid system in all it's evil glory."

"Since when does the system have any glory at all?"

Silence fell between them as the brunette thought the question over. "You're right. 'In all it's evil'."

"Much better."

They exchanged identical grins before their attention was pulled to a van that had parked in front of the dormitory. By this time most of those coming that day had arrived and their parents had long since left – to have an unmarked white van pull up at this time of the day screamed of 'newcomers'. "Do you think that's them?" Nadia asked, a bubble of anticipation bursting in her voice.

"Perhaps. Let's go and check it out."

Getting to their feet, they then brushed grass off their pants before strolling over to the dormitory entrance, where four boys had begun to unload the van.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Things will begin to get interesting soon, I promise. Intros are slow sometimes..._

…...

**Chapter 2**

There were four boys in total and it barely took a full glance to know that they were, indeed, the infamous Russian beyblading team – The Blitzkrieg Boys.

"How should we introduce ourselves?" Nadia whispered to Nyx as they drew closer. Lucky for them, however, their teacher, Mr Niwat, came to the rescue.

"Ah, Miss Tenji, Miss Hokoro, what wonderful timing!" he grinned happily, drawing the beyblading team's attention to the two girls, who froze on the spot. "Have you met our new students?"

"No, Mr Niwat, we haven't," Nyx spoke up, a smile tugging at her lips. Saved by the teacher – who would have thought! "I'm Nyx, and this is Nadia."

The boys all nodded solemnly, none offering their own name until they spotted the teacher's look.

"I'm Tala, and this is Kai," the redhead pointed to the one with duel shaded blue hair, "Bryan," the violet haired one nodded, "and Spencer," the tall blond one grunted once in response to his name.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Nadia blushed as she scooted behind Nyx, suddenly shy.

"Now that you all know each other, why don't you two ladies show them around?"

"Sure thing!" the brunette piped up without any trace of hesitation. "Leave it to us, Mr Niwat!"

"Excellent. Do you boys need help with your luggage?"

"We're fine," the one named Spencer replied as he easily picked up his one bag.

"Alrighty then, have fun and good luck!" With a wave he was gone, bounding away to the cafeteria. He was obviously more than pleased to not help carry any more luggage. As wonderful a teacher as he was, his physical abilities were left to question.

"He seems a little flighty," Tala pointed out in an off-handed manner.

"He's actually a very good teacher," Nyx informed them as she stepped a little closer. "His classes are usually voted the most favourite amongst all the students."

"Good to know," the redhead nodded as he looked over at Nyx with icy blue eyes. "Is your name really Nyx?"

"No, but I don't answer very well to my real one. Even my mother calls me Nyx."

"Weird," Bryan snorted, his amethyst eyes locked onto her brown ones.

"My real name is weirder. Come on, we'll show you to your rooms. What kind of rooms do you have?"

"We have two double rooms," Tala answered, earning him points in her eyes. Unlike his teammates, he was at least trying to be nice. "Numbers…" he glanced at a piece of paper he'd been clutching in his pale hand, "Thirty six and thirty seven."

"Then you're on the second floor," she nodded sagely as they slowly made their way into the building. "First and second floor are for the boys, the third and fourth are girls. We aren't allowed on your floors and you aren't allowed on ours. Once the school year starts the doors to the girls' floor are locked and only we have the keys to them."

"And yet you're the ones showing us around?" Bryan now asked, his eyes suspicious.

"The rules are only in effect once the school term starts. We can also visit one another as long as we sign in to the floor we want to visit and are let in by someone. The phone in your room has it's own extension so you can call up or down to be let in. Your keys will work on the two first floors while ours will only work on the third and fourth."

"Makes sense," the redhead nodded slowly as they reached the second floor. "Why not just make two dormitories, one for each sex?"

This time Nadia shrugged as she said, "Probably costs a lot, and it's easier to have everyone in the same building."

"Parents must love this," the blond finally spoke, his voice a rumble.

"Thus the locked doors. They feel as though their children are safer this way," Nyx smiled. "Little do they realize just how easy it is to prop open a door."

"These are your rooms," Nadia informed them as they came to a halt. On either side of the hall were two doors with the brass numbers '36' and '37'. "If you want to just set your stuff inside we can show you the cafeteria."

"Sure. I think we're all starved," the redhead nodded as he unlocked number thirty-seven and placed his things inside. Kai followed his lead while Bryan and Spencer placed their things in thirty-six. "All set, let's go."

"What kind of food do they serve?" Bryan inquired, curious.

"Once school starts they have a meal plan that they follow, including taco Saturdays and pizza Tuesdays. They'll give you a sheet with a month's worth of meals. Until then you get sandwiches, salads… anything that doesn't involve much preparation time," Nyx responded with a grin in his direction. "The food is usually good, but the cooks aren't morning people. No matter the time of year we usually get toast or oatmeal. Once and a while they'll treat us to pancakes or bacon and eggs but… it's not very often."

"I hope they have lots," the tall one grinned as he licked his lips. "I am starving."

"He's an oatmeal fan," Tala explained with a jerk of his thumb in Spencer's direction. "Can't get enough of the stuff."

"Weird…," frowned the brunette as she tapped her chin with a finger. "But I suppose someone out there has to like it."

"You're quiet," Nadia suddenly blurted out, her green eyes locked on Kai, who returned the look with a bland one of his own.

"I've nothing to say."

"Sure you do, you just don't want to say it."

He blinked once at her as the others stifled their chuckles. "Kai is just like that. Quiet and aloft," explained Bryan with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"You all are kinda like that. Quiet, keep to yourselves," Nyx pointed out. "The girls are going to be crawling all over you if you keep this up."

They all turned to stare at her as she spoke, surprised by what she'd said.

"Well it's true. Isn't it well known that most teenage girls go ga-ga over the strong, silent type? You know, the ones their parents' first impression will be to immediately distrust?"

"Are you trying to insult us?" the violet haired boy asked, voice getting sharp.

"No, just stating that you fit into that category – whether you belong there or not is still up for debate." Her mannerisms didn't change – his change of tone didn't seem to affect her and it bothered him. Most who heard him speak that way backed off, at least a little. He had been trained back at the abbey to be ruthless to both beyblade and beyblader alike, and those who knew this tried to stay out of his way.

The boys all exchanged silent looks but decided not to say anything. Having girls crawling all over them was not very high on their list of things to happen. If anything they wanted to be left alone. Maybe it was because of the way they'd been raised at Biovolt, or perhaps it was just who they were. Either way, they hoped to be left relatively alone with only their fellow teammates as company. These two girls were nice and all… but it also made things awkward and complicated and there was no need for any of that.

By the time they had finished their supper and had a quick tour of the grounds it was already beginning to grow dark and thus they all retired to their rooms.

The girls stayed up late, discussing everything that had happened since they'd arrived and how strange The Blitzkrieg Boys were in person. They seemed so distant and serious about everything!

"Once school starts and they know where everything is we won't have to worry about them anymore," Nyx sighed as she stared at the top bunk, fingers interlaced behind her head.

"It's just depressing – here I thought they'd be so cool and nice. Instead they're just… blah." Making a face, Nady leaned over the side of her bed and stuck her tongue out at her friend. "But like you said, a few more days and they should be fine."

"Once Wolfy gets here things will liven up," grinned the brunette, eyes shinning with a devilish light. "Mom also promised to send the things I _forgot_. The package should get here in a day or so, since we mailed it yesterday."

"I love how much she supports us in everything we do," sighed the girl from the top bunk as she sat up and stretched. "It's so nice. I adore her Christmas presents."

"Don't we all!"

"G'night, Nyx. Here's to tomorrow being interesting and crazy."

"And if it isn't we'll change it soon enough."

"Here, here!"


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: After the intro chapters they'll begin to get a little longer._

...

**Chapter 3**

The sun woke Nyx the next morning. A brilliant patch of it's light rested directly on her face, causing her to groan loudly and huddle under both pillow and covers in an attempt to escape. Seconds later they were whisked away by a fully dressed Nadia. "Rise and shine, sunshine! The sun is up, the day has begun and food is calling my name!"

"Why must you be a morning person?" complained the girl as she curled into a tight ball in a failed attempt to avoid the morning.

"Because if it weren't for morning six hours of my day wouldn't exist. Now come on. Oatmeal is calling our name."

"…. I'm never getting up now."

"Fine! Toast with peanut butter is calling your name."

"That's a bit better," was the sighed reply as Nyx sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "Is the cafeteria even open yet?"

"No, but you still have to shower and get ready. By then it will be open."

"You sound like Mom."

"I try really hard. Go on, get out of here!"

Back hunched and feet dragging, the brown haired girl found her bathroom things and trudged off to the showers. When she returned half an hour later she was awake, alert and smiling. "Nothing like a morning shower to wake you up."

"Glad to know," Nadia grinned as she set down the book she'd been reading as she waited for her friend to return. A frown slowly creased her brow as she noticed a dark look working it's way onto her friend's face. "What's wrong?"

"I just hope Wolfy shows up today. It's weird, she's usually the first here. Waiting makes me anxious."

"We would know if something happened, so don't worry," she reassured the girl as she put the book away and bounded forward. "There's a lot to do before school starts tomorrow, and once she gets here you can tell us all about this 'plan' of yours to welcome the new school year."

The dark look disappeared within moments as a bright and evil smile spread across Nyx's face. "Oh yes, I can't wait. Wolfy will be excited."

"Can I at least have a hint?" Nadia poked as they left their room.

"Nope."

"Dammit."

...

To the girls' surprise, The Blitzkrieg Boys were already eating their breakfast when they arrived in the cafeteria. It was barely seven thirty and the place was otherwise empty. Shrugging to each other, the girls sat down with the boys and bade them a good morning.

"How was your first night here?" Nadia asked in a hesitant voice, her eyes watching her spoon move around the bowl of oatmeal.

"It wasn't bad. Do people usually stay up until two in the morning chatting?" Bryan inquired, voice a grumble as he stabbed mercilessly at his oatmeal.

"Once classes start it's usually not as bad. A lot of people here don't see each other over the vacation so they tend to be loud and rambunctious the first week or so," explained Nyx around bites of her toast. The boys all stared at her as she worked through the mountain of peanut butter she'd slathered on the one slice.

"So what is there to do when your outside of the classroom?" Kai asked as he finished his own toast and looked between their two escorts.

"Well, there's a gym that you can use, as long as a class isn't in session, the pool and fitness room, you can go for walks, do your homework, hang out…" Nadia trailed off as she tried to think of other things to do.

"They were suppose to put in some beyblade dishes when they remodelled the pool house but it doesn't seem like they kept they're promise," sighed the brunette as she finished her toast and licked the peanut butter from her fingers. "Some of the students will have brought some, but you'll have to find them and ask to use it."

"That's fine. Practicing outside is better," Bryan told them with a slight grin. "It takes a trained blader to be able to manoeuvre the different types of terrain."

The girls exchanged a look that said they were amused by what he'd said, but they stayed quiet.

"Would you be able to show us more of the grounds?" asked Tala as he finished his orange juice and carefully set the glass on the table.

"Sure thing," Nyx nodded. "There's quite a bit. We'll also show you where your classes will be held. Do you know what they are off-hand?"

"We all have the same schedule," said Kai as he pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to her.

"Perfect. You match up with some of my classes and some of Nadia and Wolfy's. We'll be able to show you where they all are."

"Who's Wolfy?" Spencer asked as he looked around, as though expecting another person to appear. "Is that even her real name?"

"No, her real name is a mile and a half long," giggled the dark haired girl. "As to who she is, she's a very close friend of ours who _should_ be arriving this afternoon."

"Ah," he sounded out before falling silent again.

"Well, if you guys are done eating, we'll start the tour by first showing you where your classes will be," Nyx began as she stood. Everyone else followed her example and the real tour began.

The morning had soon disappeared in a flurry of finding classrooms, explaining how the classes would operate, the breaks between each and how to get access to the pool and fitness room.

They grabbed a quick dinner and ate it outside unday the sun as they continued on their way pass the commons, to the top of the bell tower that had long since stopped chiming the hour and in a full circle around the campus.

The rules for the campus were pretty simple: you needed a keycard to get into most buildings – for safety purposes – and the only buildings or areas off limits were the teachers' residence and the forest that surrounded the campus. Leaving the campus required special permission from both the headmaster, homeroom teacher and a parent. Anyone caught outside of school grounds without permission would face three months of detention. Caught twice and they were expelled.

There was also the uniform that had to be worn at all times, even on weekends, once lessons were in session. Penalty for breaking this rule was all other non-uniform clothing was to be sent back home and detention for an entire month.

By the time they reached the dormitory that afternoon there was a taxi parked outside with the driver and passenger bickering heatedly. Before the group could get within hearing range the driver jumped into the car and drove off, tires squealing as the student shook her fist angrily at the retreating tail-lights. "That's right!" they heard her shout. "Run away! You know you can't take me on!"

"Heyyyy!" Nadia called, waving her arm in the air to catch the newcomer's attention.

"YO!" was the reply as her luggage was forgotten and the small girl raced to her friends, barrelling them over in her haste to reach them.

Laughing, they disentangled themselves from one another before getting back to their feet. The newcomer was short – only five feet tall – and exuded energy and enthusiasm, which her friends seemed to imitate without problem. The boys found it hard to believe she could run in the baggy pants she wore, but decided she probably had years of practice.

"We were wondering when you'd get here," Nadia told Wolfy as she grabbed her in a head lock. "You're late."

"Ack! Lemme go! Lemme go!" she flailed helplessly until her neck was released. "Of course I was late, that stupid cabby didn't know north from south, let alone east from west. He got lost so many times I'm surprised it's not Halloween."

"You bothered him while he was driving, didn't you?" was Nyx's question as she raised a brow and leaned over the girl.

"Me? Bother someone who's driving?" the short girl exclaimed, hand on her chest and a surprised yet innocent look on her face. "Never!"

All three girls grinned at this before turning to the boys. "Guys, this is Wolfy."

"It's actually Dulce Maria Victoria Gutierrez Vasquez Labias Hernandez," she explained in one breath, "but my friends call me Wolfy. Or Dulce – some people call me Dulce."

"Wolfy sounds better," Spencer told the girl as he leaned over for a better look. Unlike his alabaster skin, hers was tanned. Her amber eyes met his hazel ones with defiance against his towering height.

"As long as you don't call me 'Hey you!' then we should be fine."

"So what's Nyx's real name?" Bryan now asked. "She won't tell us."

"And she has a good reason not to. It's _weird_," exclaimed the new girl, eyes growing wide.

"Is it Leslie?" he continued.

"Ha, no, worse," Nyx laughed. "You'll never guess it."

"Apple? Pear?"

"Bryan, you're joking right?" Tala frowned. "No-one is called Apple or Pear."

"I saw a movie once with a set of twins called Apple and Pear!"

"… Bryan, we've told you many, many times. You have to stop watching chick flicks!" the redhead sighed heavily as he looked up at the sky.

A blush crossed the violet haired one's face. "I don't watch chick flicks. I was on a date and she wanted to see that movie!"

"Then technically you watch chick flicks – dates count," Nyx told him in a solemn voice.

"I don't watch chick flicks!"

"Lighten up, we're just teasing," chuckled Nadia as she gave his arm a weak punch. "Get use to it."

"I don't want to."

"Then we'll be so much more amused, seeing you blush like this every time," Wolfy piped in with a devilish look.

As Bryan sulked the other boys exchanged amused glances. Maybe the girls weren't so bad.

"Look, I have to go unpack. Wait for me before going to supper, will ya?" she told them without missing a beat. "Shouldn't take me too long."

"We'll be in the commons," Nadia promised her friend. "Just don't take forever."

"I said it shouldn't take me long."

"You also said you would always get to school two days before classes start and yet… here we are, arguing your logic."

"You're evil people, you know that?"

"Why thank you," Nyx openly gushed, fluttering her eyelashes. "I don't think I've heard a nicer compliment."

"Evil weirdoes," muttered Wolfy as she stalked back to her luggage and dragged it inside.

"She's interesting," Tala informed them with a grin. "I like her."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Another week, another chapter. After this one the story will go off in a direction the first version didn't take. Can't wait!_

...

**Chapter 4**

Having been fed and watered, the group split up and went to their own rooms. The girls eagerly crowded in Nyx's bed as she took out a clipboard and began to draw a picture. "Alright, this is the layout of the building," she began before going into detail.

Her two friends listened with rapt attention, soaking in every detail. "You are brilliant," Nadia beamed once they'd covered everything.

"I told you I had a plan to welcome the new school year."

"When should we get started?" Wolfy asked as she gazed out the window. "It's almost dark now."

"In an hour. Until then we have to get ready. You brought your outfits?" Nyx inquired.

"Never leave for school without it!" was the eager joint reply.

It took them a while, but by the time they were ready to leave it was pitch black outside. "We'll blend in so well," Nyx grinned happily as she finished tying up her black boot.

Each girl wore tight black pants with a matching long sleeve shirt and gloves. Their hair was pulled back tightly to keep it up and out of the way – except Wolfy, who's hair was nearly as long as she was tall, forcing them to braid and pinned it up in a type of bun.

"Did you get the package yet?" Nadia asked as she climbed up on the desk and pulled open the window.

"It came this afternoon while I was unpacking," Wolfy answered for the brunette. "I opened it and put it all away."

"Excellent. Bring it out so we can get going."

"Aye, aye, mon capitain," she cheerfully saluted before grabbing three backpacks from the closet. Nyx opened hers and peered inside. A grappling hook, a case of lock picks and a few other things were neatly stored inside. "Oh goody, she remembered my screwdriver!" cried the short girl as she pulled it out and gazed dreamily at the object in her hand. It was her favourite tool as it stored six different heads inside. They could be slid and locked into place so easily that it was a must have for the youth.

"I made sure she did," Nyx replied as she crawled onto the desk and peered out the open window. "Nadia?"

"I'm here," came a whisper as the nearly invisible girl waved from the tree just outside their window. "It blocks our view, but having a tree right outside is so nice." Careful not to look down, she shifted her feet, grasping onto the branch above her before she dared to lean forward, arm extended. Without waiting a breath, Nyx jumped, caught the offered hand and was clambering down the tree in no time, Wolfy and Nadia soon following.

A few minutes later they sat down near the cafeteria's back door, giddy with anticipation as they rifled through their bags. "I have it," Nadia informed them as she removed a device of sorts and clipped it onto Wolfy's belt. "Just remember, blue to red, red to green."

"The sea runs with blood during Christmas," was the nodded reply.

"You remember things in strange ways."

"That I do. Now beam me up, Scotty!"

"I told you we shouldn't have bought those Star Trek DVDs for her birthday," Nyx scowled at her friend as they locked their hands together in a makeshift step. Wolfy jumped up and, bracing her arms against the outer wall, allowing them to lift her until the vent was within easy reach.

"She begged for them – you can't say no to her when she gives you those puppy dog eyes!"

"I can hear you guys," Wolfy sighed as she unscrewed the vent and dropped it to the ground, pocketing the screws for later use. "No more talking about me – I won't be around to monitor what's being said."

"Oh that Wolfy," Nyx began, voice loud enough that the girl crawling through the vent would be able to hear. "She's so silly and such a geek. Why are we friends with her again?"

"Haha!" was the muffled reply as they held back a chuckle.

Minutes ticked by slowly, the girls outside grew nervous. But no news was good news, as the saying went. If the alarm didn't go off then they were still golden. However, if it did go off they were screwed in the worse possible way.

"She's being such a lady, making us wait," Nadia grumbled moments before the door creaked open and their friend poked her head out.

"You guys coming or what?"

"What took you so long?"

"I had full access to a kitchen in the middle of the night. What do you _think_ made me take so long?"

"You're gonna have to use the bathroom soon, aren't you?"

"It's not my fault they had three gallons of OJ in the fridge, ok? It was calling my name! _Wolfy, Wolfy~ Drink meeee, DRIIINNNK MEEEE!_"

"You didn't drink three gallons of orange juice," Nyx frowned as Nadia disappeared inside, leaving the two to make their way to the next destination.

"Ok, fine, I drank a litre."

"Doesn't the truth make you feel better?"

"No."

"Then knowing there will be orange juice left for breakfast?"

"….Yes, yes that does make me feel better."

By this time they had reached the pool house. Bracing herself against the wall, Nyx intertwined her fingers, allowing Wolfy to securely place a foot in the palms of her hands before hefting her up to reach the vent.

Moments passed and the vent crashed to the ground. The next thing Nyx knew she was alone, waiting for the others to do their job before she could do hers. "Come on, come on," she whispered to herself as she checked her watch a couple of times.

"We're in!" came Wolfy's voice from the pool house door.

"Finally!"

"I'll be back," she promised before dashing off, leaving the brunette to her own devices.

Lock picks in hand, she stepped inside and, with the help of her tiny flashlight, made her way to the main controls for the pool. The metal box that covered them was no bother to her, as she quickly unlocked the padlock that kept what was inside out of reach.

A grin spread across her face as she replaced her picks in their proper storage container before fiddling with the controls in front of her. Once the settings were locked in she squatted on the floor and rummaged through her bag, extracting her grappling hook, a length of strong rope and a few small cans of what could only be spray paint. A facemask was placed on top of the cans before she tied the hook to the end of the length of rope.

"Nyx?" a soft voice called.

"Here," she answered.

Nadia and Wolfy appeared at the door, each weighed down by two massive bags. "There's more," the short one explained with a grunt as she dropped her load on the ground. "Need any help?"

"I'll be fine," was the calm reply as she twirled the grappling hook in a circle before letting it soar into the rafters above. The hook easily sunk in the wood and held tightly – a couple of firm tugs on the rope let Nyx know this for certain. "I'll start painting. Unless you guys need some help?"

"We'll be fine," Nadia assured her friend. "Be careful."

"I'll paint the ones over the pool first. By the time I'm done those you should be back."

"Alright," they nodded before leaving her once more.

Mind back on the duty at hand, she hooked the cans of spray paint onto her belt, slid on the facemask and shouldered her bag before easily scaling the rope. After she was comfortably seated on the rafter she pulled the rope up and looked around, judging distances with a critical eye. The lights hung from the rafters with help from metal poles. She gingerly tested her weight on the nearest one and found it rather unsafe.

Twisting around, she tugged her grappling hook out of the beam and repositioned it a couple of times until she figured it was close enough. She then hastily wound her rope around the beam until it was the right length so that she could hang from it and reach the light with ease. A couple of well placed knots were then tugged into position near the end of the rope before she lowered herself down, one hand in a death grip on the length that held her up.

Fishing a can from her belt, she shook it until the little metal ball inside clanged against the sides. Her smile was hidden by her facemask, though her eyes betrayed it. It took a little over a minute for the light to be completely covered in paint.

She was on her fifth one by the time Nadia and Wolfy had finished bringing over the bags of what was now known to be oatmeal. "The settings are in place. Once you're ready just hit the green button," Nyx called down as the short girl flung her own grappling hook upwards to help paint the lights.

Nadia, having a well known discomfort with heights – climbing trees was all they could get her to do without much of a fuss – stayed below and emptied the bags of oatmeal into the pool and hot tub. "I don't know if there's enough here to fill the pool."

"You'd be surprised at how much oatmeal expands in boiling water," Wolfy called down as she swayed back and forth, "besides, it's the thought that counts, isn't it?"

"And what is our thought?"

"That oatmeal sucks. We deserve bacon and eggs, or pancakes, or French toast for breakfast!" Nyx laughed as she sat on her rafter to rest for a moment.

"Right. I knew that."

"Sure you did."

"I think that's the last of the lights. Wolfy?"

"Just one left over here and I'm dooooone. Can't wait to see this tomorrow!"

"When do we have gym?"

"First thing in the morning," replied Nadia, her evil grin wide. "And we will most likely be swimming. Oh, this is going to be fun."

"I just love disrupting classes," they sang together as Wolfy finished up before returning to the ground.

"How do we un-stick our hooks?" asked the shorter one as she gazed up at the dangling rope.

"Like this," Nyx replied, jumping from rafter to rafter until she reached Wolfy's grappling hook. Once there, she clambered down like a monkey. A grin on her lips, she swung her own grappling hook, launching it into the air with the ease of practice. It glanced off Wolfy's before clattering back to the ground.

"Ohhh, that was close," the shorter one stated with wide eyes. "You've got skill!"

"I've been practicing," was the grunted reply as she tried again, this time hooking them together. "Now, we stand back," they all took a couple steps back, "and I do this." She yanked on the rope, freeing both hooks. They clattered to the group barely a second later. "I am beyond awesome, I know. Hold your applause and praise."

"And you think _I_ shouldn't watch TV."

"That wasn't from TV, Wolfy."

"Not the point, Nadia."

"It's always the point."

"No, it isn't."

"Girls," Nyx interrupted gently, passing Wolfy her grappling hook. "We still have something to do and I want to get in early – classes start first thing tomorrow and I am _not_ a morning person as it is."

"Good point," nodded Nadia as she skipped away and pressed the green button. Both the pool and hot tub hummed to life as the jets turned on. "It should be good until morning." Picking up the padlock, she shut the cage and locked it before dusting off her hands. "Wolfy and I already replaced all the outside vents so let's get to bed."

"Welcome one, welcome all, to the new school year," grinned the brunette as she linked her arms with her friends'. "It will be full of mischievous fun, lunacy and studying."

"I did not sign up for studying!" Nadia protested.

"No-one does, it comes with the territory of causing trouble."

"Oh, well then, I'll study hard and work hard to upset the order of this place!"

"Here, here!" they chorused, laughing as quietly as they could.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: To those asking about the first version of MWR, it was removed from the site a few weeks ago. This was due to the fact that my writing has improved substantially over the years and I couldn't stand looking at it anymore_

_Thank you to those who have taken the time to review – it means a lot to me._

...

**Chapter 5**

The late night excursion did not agree with Nyx's early morning rising. Bleary eyed and yawning, she showered then dressed in her school uniform, which consisted of a knee length blue skirt and a white button up shirt. The shoes they were forced to wear were black and comfortable – bland looking, but they did the job. Knee high socks completed the uniform.

Wolfy, already set for class, was grumbling rather loudly about wanting to wear the boy's uniform and not being allowed – she was no a fan of skirts at this point in her life.

There was a great flurry of activity in the cafeteria that morning as the students grabbed as much bacon and eggs, pancakes, french toast and other such cooked treats as possible, fearing that the cooks would replace it with oatmeal. Little did they know there wasn't a single grain of oatmeal in the building.

Hiding their amusement as best they could, the girls eagerly grabbed a little bit of everything before finding The Blitzkrieg Boys and sitting with them, much to the boys' surprise.

"Good morning," Wolfy grinned widely before eating a slice of bacon. "Excited for class?"

"It's gym – are we suppose to be excited?" Bryan asked with a raised brow. "And I thought you said they always made oatmeal for breakfast."

"_Almost_ always," Nadia corrected with a wave of her knife. "Pass the syrup, please. Thank you!"

"Do we change into our gym clothes in the dorm?" Tala asked, curious as to how this would work. At that moment in time, the four boys were wearing identical white button up shirts with matching tie and pants - both blue.

"We change in the locker room. It's attached to the pool house and gym building," Wolfy explained around her bite of pancake. After swallowing, she continued, "Depending on what we're doing will depend on what you wear. Anything other than swimming involves the shorts and t-shirt – obviously swimming requires the swimsuit."

"Obviously," Tala nodded, his blue eyes resting on the yawning Nyx. "Not a morning person?"

"Anyone who gets up this early without a dozen alarm clocks is completely insane," was her answer as she slouched around her mug of coffee, willing it to get rid of the sleepiness that was still plaguing her mind.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

"Nyx has never been a morning person. She can stay up 'til morning no problem, it's getting up that's a bother," Nadia sighed as she poked her friend, who only grunted in reply.

The first bell rang so loudly that nearly everyone in the cafeteria jumped – some even squealed in surprise. "Well, time to get to class," Nyx yawned widely before downing the rest of her coffee and grabbing a slice of bacon for the walk to class. "Time to be tortured."

"Is gym really that bad?" asked the redhead, who fell into step beside her.

"If you're out of shape it is. Otherwise you're pretty much set for a passing grade."

"So it's an easy class."

"Just about, yeah."

"Alright, class!" the teacher called to them as he entered the classroom they'd gathered in – a quarter of the time allotted for the class throughout the year would be spent there. "Today we will be swimming laps. The person with the best time will get the highest grade. The person with the worse time will get the lowest grade. Today is all about speed."

"See?" Nyx whispered to Tala as everyone grabbed their swimming things and marched to the pool house to change. "If you're in shape it's a breeze."

"Isn't that being a little... I don't know, prejudice or something?" he asked with a deep frown.

"Probably. But a lot of the teachers here play favourites. If you understand the subject and can get good grades they'll treat you better than the rest. It's the law of the wild."

"Law of the wild?"

"I can't think of the wording for it right now. Go get changed." Not waiting for his answer, she jogged off with her two friends, all of whom seemed to be holding back smiles and laughter. Again he frowned, wondering what was so entertaining to them.

"Come on, Tala, let's go," Bryan said as he gave the redhead a push.

From the boys' changing room they could hear the teacher begin to curse, and for a gym teacher he had a very complex vocabulary. Curious as to what could have enraged the man so early in the day, they ventured into the pool area and froze in shock.

Even in the dim lighting – the lights were, after all, covered in paint, which meant that the sunlight filtering through the windows was the only source of light – they could make out the problem well enough: there was oatmeal _everywhere_.

The hot tub was so overflowing with the oats that it had spread into the pool, which was also full of the stuff. From the looks of it, as the oatmeal had been cooking during the night a bubble had formed and burst, spraying it everywhere.

"What the hell happened here!" the gym teacher shouted as all the students gathered in shock from the display of food. "Daisuke! Go get the principal. NOW!"

A boy with white blond hair raced off without a second's hesitation.

Kai's gaze watched the reaction of those around him, finally settling on the three girls that had had eaten breakfast with them. Their faces were too careful. From what he knew of them thus far they should be rolling over with laughter, not just wearing mysterious smiles. Were they behind this? No, it couldn't be. There were locks and alarms in place to keep students in the dormitory past the nine o'clock curfew. They also couldn't leave the dormitory without a teacher knowing, what with the keycard logs.

"Alright, everyone, get changed. Gym will be outside today," the teacher shouted, his voice echoing around the room as they returned to the locker rooms to change.

In the boys' locker room, the Blitzkrieg beyblading team exchanged looks. "Did you notice how the girls held back? As though they didn't want to be noticed?" Kai asked them as he pulled on his t-shirt.

"Yeah. It was weird. I mean, we've only known them for two days but they're more the type to laugh loud and hard without a thought as to who sees or hears them," agreed Bryan as he closed his locker with a sharp snap. Folding his arms, he waited for the others to finish changing before continuing. "Worse of all, the short one, Wolfy, reminds me of someone."

"You too, huh?" Tala sighed as he laced his shoe without an upwards glance at his teammates. "There is something familiar about her all right."

Saying nothing, Kai allowed his thoughts to flow freely. Memories, pieces of his dark past flittered through his mind's eye. There was something familiar about the short one, as well as the two others. Still, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. No matter, everything would come back in time – or it could just be his imagination acting up.

"We're going to be late," Spencer informed them, realizing they were the only ones left in the locker room. Hastily, they finished changing and hurried outside.

...

The sun shone down on them, warming the chilly air just enough so that no-one shivered. Once the principal showed up their gym teacher told them to run a lap around the campus and left them to their own devices.

"So he's trusting us to run the lap?" Tala voiced, a little shocked.

"He'll know if you don't," Nyx replied as she and her friends jogged by with a wave. "Don't fall too far behind, slowpokes!"

The boys exchanged identical looks before racing off after the trio.

Glancing behind her, Nadia let out a giggle. "They're going to catch us if we don't speed up soon."

"That's fine. We'll just have to speed up," Wolfy grinned impishly as she quickened her short stride until her long hair flew like a banner.

Laughing out loud, Nyx and Nadia followed suit, the boys falling behind until they, too, picked up speed. "Think they want to race?" Nyx panted lightly, cheeks flushed with pleasure.

"I think so. Hurry it up, boys! You're chewing on our dust!" Nadia shouted back. "Girls, let's make this interesting. Split up?"

"Oh, an obstacle course!" Wolfy was excited now. "I think I'll run to the top of the clock tower!"

"Only one way in and out – they'll catch you easy."

"... true."

"At the commons, we split and meet back at the pool house like the teacher wants us to," Nadia nodded, eyes twinkling mischievously. "Do you think they'll split and follow, or keep on the track?"

"They'll split and follow." This was one thing Nyx was certain as she glanced back and saw the look in the eyes of their followers. "They want to prove that they can keep up, if not pass us. Let's give them a run for their money."

"A run for their pride, Nyx, their pride," corrected Wolfy as they neared the commons.

"Alright, ladies, we'll see each other soon!" Nadia called before they suddenly split, each shooting off in a different direction.

The boys hesitated a second before following suit. Spencer was left without anyone to follow and thus he chased after his closest buddy; Bryan.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Someone asked about pairings. Well, you can kinda see some in this chapter, but it's around chapter 10 that things are more solidified (I've a few chapters pre-written, so this I can tell you for sure)._

...

**Chapter 6**

Though her legs were short, Wolfy was proving to be an elusive prey. Kai's eyes never left her rippling hair as they swerved around benches and trash cans, vaulting over railings and other benches.

Legs pumping without cease, he slowly gained ground on the speedy girl until he could have reached out and brushed her banner of raven locks. Of course he did no such thing – not that it didn't pass through his mind. Instead he pulled up beside her, a smirk on his lips as he passed.

A glance backwards showed him her furious face at being overtaken. Moments later she caught up to him, matching his speed.

The pool house now in sight, they raced on, breath coming in painful pants as their lungs craved oxygen and muscles screamed in protest.

Again Kai pulled ahead. Victory was his – he knew it, he could taste it. It was sweet and succulent, the hidden delight of all victories. Before he could taste it, however, a force clamped onto his back and legs.

The momentum from running forced him to fall forward and roll in the grass, coming to a stop seconds later. Groaning, he sat up, wondering what had happened, only to see a victorious Wolfy grinning at him. She'd jumped onto his back as he'd pulled ahead. It wasn't that she was a sore loser – she just preferred that, if she didn't win, no-one did.

"You cheated," he gasped as he flopped onto his back and stared up at the sky.

"No, you cheated."

"How did I cheat?"

"You're taller than me, with longer legs and wider strides. It's a basic fact that every time you race me you will cheat, so I have to resort to doing all that I can to win." Her voice was so matter-of-fact that he looked over at her sitting there, hair spilling over her sweaty face and heaving shoulders.

"Your sense of logic needs work."

"Why does everyone tell me that?" Her frowned was so cute that he had to hide his smile from her. She seemed so innocent, so carefree... The real world was going to eat her whole and spit her out only to gnaw on her bones. "What's with the serious look?"

"Huh?"

"Your face. It went from relaxed to serious – like you were thinking of something bad."

"It's nothing."

Her amber eyes never left his face, even as he forced himself to his feet and brush the grass from his shorts. Finally, she broke the gaze as Bryan came barrelling towards them, Nadia some feet behind with Spencer easily keeping up with her.

Seconds later they sped by. "TACKLE HIM, NADIA!" Wolfy shouted to her comrade, arms waving in the air as if to emphasize her point. "DO IT! DO IT OR HE'LL BEAT YOU!"

Nadia, however, was not one to cheat. Spencer, it seemed, was the type to do such a thing. Speeding up, he tackled his friend to the ground, allowing the girl to run past and reach the pool house first.

Laughing, Wolfy caught up with her friend. "I wanted _you_ to tackle him, but Spencer doing it was much more interesting."

"Why'd you do that!" Bryan was yelling as his friend helped him to his feet. "What is your problem?"

"Well I can't tackle a girl, not with how much I weigh. The next best thing was to tackle you, Bryan."

"Aw, Spencer, you're such a sweat-heart!" Nadia gushed as she moved close and, standing on her tippy toes, gave him a peck on the cheek. "That's for helping me win!"

A blush spread across the boy's cheeks as Bryan crossed his arms over his chest and huffed.

"Don't be such a poor sport," Wolfy frowned. She ignored Kai's look as Nadia gave Bryan a kiss. "Why'd you do that! He lost! He deserves no prize."

"True, but it's for being a good sport about it."

"He isn't being a good sport, he's mopping like an idiot."

"I am not!"

"See? Don't you feel better now?" Wolfy grinned widely.

A blush creeped into his pale cheeks as he looked away without answering.

"Say, where's Nyx? She should be back by now, unless Tala's slow..." Nadia muttered mostly to herself.

"Tala isn't slow," Spencer replied with a shake of his head.

"Huh. Then what's taking them so long?"

...

Everything had started out fine. She'd been running strong, over and around obstacles and people without any trouble. It was when she had glanced back to make sure Tala was still in sight that it had happened.

She'd tripped.

There was no grace in her fall, or in the squeak that escaped her lips once she realized what was happening. The crunch as she hit the ground was a harsh and ugly noise. Her nose was buried in grass and leaves, aching and burning from being the first to caress the ground. The sound of someone running close and slowing to a stop was the only noise she could discern from the roaring in her ears.

"You alright?"

She harrumphed once, moving her head so she wasn't breathing in dirt.

"Nyx?"

"M'fine," was the grumbled reply as she slowly rolled over. "Surprised."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting you to bellyflop the ground," said the grinning Tala. His eyes, more blue than even the sky, she realized, looked worried.

"Next time I'll save it for the pool."

"Sounds like a plan. Can you get up?"

Sitting up was no problem, as the only thing that really hurt was her poor little nose, but that was a minor inconvenience at best. "My nose is friggen sore."

"It's not broken."

"Huzzah." Her voice was sarcastic as she stood and tested her feet. Her ankles weren't sprained either – luck was with her today. "I should be fine."

"Just in case, let's walk to the pool house. I don't want you tripping again only to break your little nose."

She covered the mentioned body part as a frown wrinkled her brow. "It is _not_ little."

"Compared to mine," he flicked his own with a thumb, "it is dainty and cute."

Unsure how to respond to what he had said, she turned and began to walk in the direction of the pool house. She had no reason to look back and make sure he followed – the crunching of his shoes on the ground and his presence near her side was enough for her to know the answer.

By the time they made it back to the pool house most of the class had already arrived. Nadia and Wolfy ran to greet Nyx, who smiled lopsidedly as she recounted what had happened.

Nadia rolled her eyes at the story. "Leave it to you to trip and fall over your own feet."

"And in the middle of a race at that!" Wolfy looked positively aghast at the thought. "But I suppose since I tied with Kai and Nadia beat Bryan _and_ Spencer we win all the same..."

"You didn't tie with Kai, you tackled him." Nadia's expression couldn't be more bland.

"Technicalities!"

The taller girls exchanged smiles before letting it slide. It didn't matter what had happened – no one was hurt and they'd all enjoyed themselves.

"Alright, class," the teacher called as he came striding towards them from the office building. "Get showered and changed. There's an assembly in fifteen minutes – don't be late."

"Yes, sir," the class replied as one before moving off to do as they were told.

...

The chairs in the auditorium were neither hard nor soft. They were just your ordinary chairs that you could find in any ordinary auditorium. The only difference was that the fabric was done in the school colour – blue.

Finding three seats together, the girls sat down in silence. They already knew why all the students were there so they didn't partake in any hastily whispered conversation that most of the others were involved in.

The boys sat a few rows behind them, wondering what the assembly could be for and yet they figured they already knew the answer. The oatmeal filled pool and hot tub was the most likely cause, though one could never be completely sure.

On stage the teachers assembled, chatting quietly until the students had taken their seats. The murmur of voices ceased completely once the principal, a tall, formidable women who always looked to be cross, stepped up to the podium and cleared her throat authoritatively.

The silence lasted an entire minute before she broke it. "Welcome, students, to the new school year." Her voice was dry and unappealing. Still, the students listened with rapt attention. "It has come to my attention that there are some miscreants among our number, again, this year."

Everyone exchanged looks now as murmuring began once more. The principal cleared her throat and silence greeted the action.

"The cost of restocking the oatmeal used to deface the new pool house as well as the work of cleaning the mess is immense, even by miscreant standards. You all know what happens to those who try and cause trouble here: detention, extra homework, loss of privileges, expulsion." She let that sink in for a few moments before continuing with her speech. "Now, if the people involved, and yes, we know that there was more than one, step forward now and confess to the crime then the consequences won't be nearly as bad."

Nyx raised her hand without hesitation.

"Miss Hokoro, yes, I'm well aware that you're a part of this. Thank you for stepping forward."

"Actually, Mrs. Schenck," she began, getting to her feet so that the other students could see and hear her better, "I have a question."

"Ask it." A frown was on her face now. She knew Nyx was a part of the trio of hooligans that rampaged across her school, yet she'd never been able to prove it. It had been stupid to think she would just give herself up like that.

"Do you know who did it?"

"We do."

"Have you any proof then?"

A pause. "We do."

"So why are you giving these misbehaving students a chance at a smaller sentence? I think anyone who would do such a horrendous thing to _our_ pool should face the full punishment!"

The students around her murmured in agreement.

"We won't be able to swim in the pool until it's clean and even afterwards we'll have to live with the higher security for who knows how long – not to mention anything we do from here on will be questioned. If anything these people have made our lives harder than we want. We say bring them to justice! Don't give them a way out with a lesser sentence! They don't deserve such gifts when they're the ones who broke the rules."

The students cheered this time as Nyx held back a smile.

Wolfy and Nadia clapped for their friend, each wearing identical grins. If Schenck had evidence she would have never held the assembly – instead she would have called them to her office. Even if she had diverted from the norm, she would have never given them a lesser sentence. Her whole speech reeked of a lie that was used to try to make them squirm.

Unfortunately for her, it wasn't working, and she knew it.

Lips pursed, she drummed her fingers on the podium as Nyx sat down and the clapping died. "Yes, well, Miss Hokoro, we believe in giving people second chances."

"So, who did it, Mrs Schenck?" a student asked from somewhere in the back row.

"Yes! Tell us!" another cried. More joined in until she had to silence them with a fist hitting the podium.

"I gave you a chance to reveal yourself and you've chosen to stay hidden. So be it. Curfew is now seven thirty. All extra curricular activities must be monitored by a teacher. If you need to leave your dormitory at any point after the curfew a teacher escort will be required. You're all dismissed."

A buzz ran through the seated students as the teachers, principal and vice principal grouped together to discuss something that seemed serious. After a minute they began to usher their students back to class.

"So much for having proof of who did it. How long should we stay quiet?" Nadia asked her friends in a low voice as they moved through the crowd.

"At least until Halloween," was Wolfy's answer as they parted with the crowd and took the steps to the second floor.

"That will give us lots of time to think of better things we could do." Nyx's smile was as devilish as her friends' as they exchanged looks and laughed.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: This was one of my more favourite chapters to write. Not sure why, possibly because of how silly the girls can be, and how they influence The Blitzkrieg Boy. They're wonderful influences, oh yes._

...

**Chapter 7**

A loud thunk and the sound of someone swearing woke Nadia. The room was as black as ink – it must have still been early, even by her standards. Frowning and blinking some of the sleep from her eyes, she sat up and looked around. "Wassa matter?" she mumbled, holding back a yawn.

"Who fell outta bed?" Wolfy asked, voice full of sleep.

"Sorry. Hit my head," Nyx answered from somewhere beneath Nadia's bed. "I'll be right back."

"You ok?" her bunk mate asked as she leaned over the edge and gazed into the dark abyss below.

"M'fine. Go back to sleep."

"M'kay."

Laying back down, she closed her eyes and was asleep within moments.

...

In the bathroom, Nyx rubbed her eyes and looked at her haggard reflection. It had been going on for a week now – haunting dreams plagued her sleep to the point that she had resorted to make-up to hide the dark bags under her eyes.

Tonight's had seemed more intense than the others. Closing her eyes and furrowing her brow, she tried to recall exactly what had happened. There was no use – all she could remember was shining lights and a weird pain.

Shrugging her shoulders, she reopened her eyes and stared at the cut in her forehead that had been the result of her sitting up too quickly, hitting against Nadia's top bunk.

Nyx sighed, leaning heavily on the counter as her brown eyes narrowed, willing the cut to disappear.

It didn't.

How was she going to hide it?

"You're lucky Nadia isn't much use until she wakes up," Wolfy told Nyx from the bathroom door.

"Wolfy," she said, surprised to see her friend standing before her.

"Your dreams getting worse?"

A small nod.

"Same thing every night?"

"It's the same as always."

"There's still lots of time left. Don't worry about it." Even though her voice was calm her eyes showed how much she was truly worried.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Nyx balled her hands into fists and struck the counter. "Dammit, I hate this."

"We all hate it," Nadia retorted, peeking in around Wolfy's head.

"I woke her up," was the short girl's explanation as they entered the bathroom.

"Thanks..." the brunette muttered, clearly unhappy with this.

"We've done everything we can – worrying over something that may or may not happen isn't worth the effort," the taller raven haired girl said as she pulled herself up so she could sit on the counter.

"Life isn't a book," Wolfy continued, voice matter-of-fact. "You can write what should happen all you want, it won't necessarily come true – and it definitely won't happen the way you think it will. You think something bad will happen and so you believe it – but at the same time you can never say for sure if it will or not so there's no point worrying about it."

"When did you get all philosophical?" Nyx inquired with a raised brow.

"I watch a lot of TV."

"You got that from the television?"

"No, I think I read it somewhere."

"You're joking."

"No, I really think I did."

They all smiled a little.

"So what are we going to do about this cut?" Nyx finally asked as she traced it lightly with a finger.

"You've always said you wanted bangs," Nadia grinned cheekily. "Wolfy, go get a pair of scissors."

"Aye, aye, captain!" she saluted before disappearing out the door.

"I haven't agreed to this yet."

"But you will. Besides, it doesn't hurt to change your look every so often. Maybe I'll cut myself some bangs as well..."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm actually being serious." Nadia blinked her large green eyes twice. "It does happen."

"Not very often."

"But it _does_ happen."

Wolfy returned, wielding a pair of scissors with what appeared to be an expert hand. "Okie dokie, Nyx, it's time to give you a new do."

"I swear, if you chop anything besides what needs to be cut for bangs, I will buzz your head while you sleep."

"You wouldn't dare!" she sounded hurt and frightened as she clutched her night time braid with a hand. "I love my hair!"

"Just saying."

...

Having woken late, the girls rushed to class, sitting down moments before the teacher entered. Because of this the boys had no time to ask about Nyx and Nadia's new hair. Normally they would have never noticed such a thing, but when girls always wear their hair tied back and then, suddenly, you couldn't see their foreheads any more... well, it was hard _not_ to notice.

For an hour they wondered why the change. Once the buzzer rang they were by the girls' side. "What's with the hair?" Bryan asked without hesitation.

"We figured it was time for a change," shrugged Nyx as she gathered her books.

"And Wolfy didn't want a new hair cut?"

"Hey, I love my hair the way it is! Do not diss my gorgeous hair!"

"He didn't mean your hair wasn't nice," Spencer assured Wolfy with a pat on the shoulder.

It had been a month since school had started and they were all becoming fast friends. It was weird for both sides, as neither had ever thought that friendship with the opposite sex would happen, not to mention how different they were personality wise.

But it did make for an interesting time.

It hadn't taken the boys long to realize just how strange the girls were. They had an affinity for silly string, for one, and had a hidden stash in their closet that no-one had known about – except they'd found out one day when they were continuously assaulted by the stringy stuff. Eventually they'd been informed that, no matter how many times they were silly stringed the girls would never run out due to the secret stash.

And they were true to their word.

At random times throughout the day silly string would magically appear out of thin air and cover the boys. The giggling would alert them to the girls' presence and a chase would normally ensue.

The Blitzkrieg Boys had never had so much fun. At first they hadn't been sure how to react, but it wasn't long before they'd begun to laugh more and enjoy themselves. They had even begun to play small pranks on the girls, which also involved silly string, sticking toilet paper to their shoes while someone kept their attention elsewhere, among other random things.

However, they'd stopped placing toilet paper on their shoes after a week, as one time they had entered their rooms to find that all of their things had been covered in the stuff. To this day they were still baffled as to how the girls had managed to get into their rooms without anyone seeing them, let alone that there was a lock on both the entrance to their floor and their room.

Tala's eyes looked at Nyx's new bangs and held back a frown. From between the fine strands of hair... was that a cut? No, it couldn't be, he told himself with a mental shake of his head. "What are we doing after classes?" he asked as they left the classroom.

"Since it's the weekend, I want to go and explore the woods," Nadia pipped up after making sure no-one was listening to them.

"Don't you do that every weekend?" Bryan poked. "And you always leave us behind. What are you hiding?"

"We aren't hiding anything," Wolfy exclaimed with a hurt look. "How could you accuse us of something so horrible?"

"You're a bunch of drama queens," the violet haired boy sighed loudly.

The trio of girls pretended to be offended by what he had said and raced off.

...

"Let it rip!"

The beyblades raced across the forest floor, leaves and twigs trailing in their wake until the two blades clashed together. Sparks danced as they attacked without mercy.

A third blade swung in from the side, circling around a couple of times before striking both blades at once, sending them flying.

"Hey!" Wolfy cried angrily as her blade recovered from the hit and went in for a counter assault. "No fair!"

"All's fair in love and war," Nadia laughed as her blade met with Wolfy's.

Nyx's now circled around, like a tiger stalking it's prey. "Wait for it, wait for it..." she continuously repeated to herself until the opening she'd been waiting for appeared. "Now! Go!"

Her blade blazed in, whipping up leaves and debris as it did so. All three clashed together for barely a second before the force from the blow caused them to ricochet into the air.

"Dammit, Nyx, why do you always do that?" Wolfy asked as she retrieved her blade.

"You didn't lose, it was a tie," the brunette replied as she, too, picked up her own blade and examined it carefully. The blade was such a dark blue that it was almost black, it's attack ring silver.

"Yami and I will take you on again then!"

"If she doesn't win..." Nadia began.

"No-one wins," Nyx finished with a grin. "Alright then, Wolfy, you're on."

"Nadia, stay out of this. She's mine!"

"Aye-aye," the girl saluted as she took on the role of referee. "Three! Two! One! Let it rip!"

And the blades went flying once more.

...

"I know they came this way," Bryan chided Kai, who had questioned his sense of direction and certainty numerous times already.

"We've been walking for over an hour," Kai rebutted with a frown.

"Listen!" Spencer suddenly told them as he crouched behind a bush nearby.

The three others exchanged looks before shrugging and following the taller boy's example. Only once they were settled and quiet did they hear the sound of clashing beyblades. Now curious, they peered over the bushes to see the girls battling it out. They were smiling, laughing and yet still battling fiercely.

"Man, who knew they were good bladers!" Bryan exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Actually, did you guys know they _were_ bladers?"

Again they shrugged as one, spying on the girls from the bushes. Fidgeting slightly, Tala managed to snap a twig, which in turn caused the girls to whirl around in surprise. "Who's there?" ordered Nyx. "Show yourself."

The anger her voice held surprised them. Exchanging a slightly baffled look, they each stood up and stepped forward. "Sheesh, no need to get hostile," Bryan informed her as they moved closer. "And you could have told us you came out here to train – we're always looking for sparing partners."

"You're also competition," the brunette replied, her anger and fear having disappeared the moment she'd laid eyes on their watchers. "And showing you all our moves just wouldn't make things fair."

"Competition? You sure you're at _our_ level?"

"Oh-ho-ho!" Nadia laughed, hand waving in the air. "I think he thinks we aren't very good, Nyx."

"I second that," nodded the shorter girl. "I think he thinks we're no match for the _almost_ world champions."

"So what? We made it to the final round!" he scoffed, eyes narrowing. "S'more than what you did."

"Really? Ever think we didn't enter the tournament because it would be too easy?"

"Oh, the short one has lip!"

Wolfy's eyes snapped over to Bryan and held his gaze with a frosty one of her own. "That's it! You're going _down_, boy!"

"Let's see you try!" he countered, taking out his own beyblade and attaching it to it's launcher.

"Tala, mind being ref?" Nyx inquired as she readied her launcher. "It'll keep the battle three on three."

"Wait, three on three?" the violet haired boy demanded, startled.

"Of course. Have to keep things interesting."

He make a clicking noise with his tongue and focused once more on his blade. "Whatever."

"Spencer, Kai, get'm ready," Nadia instructed as she stood ready with her own. "We're taking you all down."

"Don't bet on it," smirked the blue haired boy as he showed her his blade. "Dranzer will burn you to ash."

"Only if I don't douse his fire first!"

"You're on."

"Alright, everyone ready?" Tala waited until they'd all nodded. He had really wanted to blade with them, but he was also aware that four against three wasn't fair. Next time – next time he would be front and centre, ready to take them on. Wolborg agreed with him, the ice wolf was eager to do battle against strong opponents. "Three, two, one... Let it rip!"


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N:I must admit I'm having loads of fun rewriting this story! Thank you to all those who've reviewed. Also, remember updates are Friday or Saturday of each week. Enjoy._

...

**Chapter 8**

In the weeks to follow the group of students could be found in the forest, training either together or separately. It didn't take long before their friendship solidified into something natural and easy. Their meals were spent in the company of each other, as was their time spent on homework in the library. The only time they didn't spend together was when they didn't share classes and after the seven thirty curfew.

The girls, though they greatly enjoyed their time spent with the boys, liked having the evenings to themselves – it gave them time to plan their next mission.

Though they were _close_ they still weren't sure if they should let the boys in on their little secret hobby. If they disapproved and told the principal they would be stuck in detention for the rest of the school year– and that was a _very_ long time to spend in detention. Not to mention it would be placed on their permanent records and no college or university would happily accept them, even with their averages in the A's and B's.

Oh the price of being a mischief maker.

"I think we should get them in on it," Nadia told her friends as she draped herself over Wolfy's bed to peer down at the plans spread out across the floor. "They're strong and really skilled. We didn't even hear them come up on us in the woods the first time."

"Until one of them stepped on a stick," pointed out Wolfy. "They're really good at beyblading, that's for sure, but with this?" she motioned to the plans, "this is a completely different field of expertise."

"Wolfy, do you remember the tournament way back when The Blitzkrieg Boys were The Demolition Boys? Remember their manager/coach?"

"Obviously not."

"Boris Balkov. And Kai's grandfather is Voltaire Hiwatari," Nyx replied as she leaned against the bed and looked over at her friend. "Biovolt."

"Biovolt..." Wolfy whispered, eyes wide.

"Exactly. They have the skills."

"Why didn't they say anything then?"

"Maybe they don't remember," Nadia suggested, rolling over onto her back to look at them upside down. "It was a long time ago, really. And seeing how they were still in Biovolt's grasp only so short a time ago there were probably more important things to remember."

A pout appeared on the short girl's face as she hugged her legs. "Being forgotten hurts."

"Don't worry, Wolfy, we remember you," Nyx offered as she moved over and hugged the sad girl with one arm – she didn't mention the fact that Wolfy hadn't remembered them. "And they'll remember you eventually."

"That reminds me!" exclaimed the upside down one as she rolled over with such haste she fell off the bed. Recovering, she jumped to her feet. "They keep stealing looks at you and frowning! I noticed it a few days after classes started. I think they remember you but don't remember why."

"You're just trying to make me feel better."

"No, I'm dead serious," falling to her knees, she peered into Wolfy's amber eyes. "Seriously, they have been doing it. I know they remember you, they just can't place it yet."

"Fine! Let's ask them. But discreetly," Wolfy finally gave in with a loud sigh. "And if they don't remember me by Christmas I'm not buying them any presents!"

Both Nadia and Nyx rolled their eyes in amusement.

….

It took a week to work up the courage to ask the boys to join them on their mission, but time was running out and the girls were getting impatient.

After classes were dismissed for the weekend, they all snuck out to the forest, as per usual, and began to train.

When they stopped for a break Nadia finally broke the ice. "Remember when the pool was filled with oatmeal at the beginning of the year?"

Spencer was the one who nodded. "Yeah, on the very first day."

"Could you ever imagine yourself doing something as awesome as that?"

The Blitzkrieg Boys exchanged glances. The question was a little off base and they were wondering where she was heading. "I don't know," Bryan replied, voice and mannerisms wary. "It was pretty funny, but to be able to actually pull it off…"

This time the girls exchanged looks.

"Ok, what are you guys getting at?" Tala finally ordered, voice stern as a frown creased his brow. "Just spit it out. We're guys – beating around the bush will get you nowhere."

"Too true," Nyx agreed solemnly as she put down her water bottle and looked from one to the other, as though assessing them. "See, we really like how the oatmeal incident turned out and want to see if we can one-up it."

"You're joking."

"No, we're serious. We want to pull a prank that will affect the entire school."

"What if we say no and warn the principal?" Bryan smirked.

"Then we know not to pull the prank and that you guys are no longer trustworthy."

"You do realize it doesn't matter to us if you don't trust us, right?"

"Actually, it does matter," Nyx grinned maliciously. "We know you all come out to the forest every weekend and are the most prominent bladders in the school. Also, no-one has seen you beyblade and you've turned down all battle challenges except ours. Now look around. All these trees have beyblade marks and signs of battle. No-one knows we beyblade and that would leave only four people left on top of the suspect list."

"Are you blackmailing us?" Kai demanded, eyes narrowing.

"Of course not," Nadia assured him with a wave of her hand. "We're simply pointing out the fact that we have something on you and if you decide to betray our trust then we will have no choice but to betray yours."

"That's called blackmail."

"And you'll be able to blackmail us as well, so it evens out in the end," Wolfy rebutted from her perch on a low branch of a nearby tree. "All's fair in love and war and whatnot."

"You do realize that what you'll tell us, that if we decide to tell on you, carries more weight than what you have on us, right?" inquired Tala.

"Definitely," Nyx nodded once. "But we're trusting you to keep your mouths shut. We have to guard our backs, Tala. If the principal learns that we're pulling a prank she'll blame all pranks on us," though that was the truth they weren't about to admit it any time soon, "and we'll be expelled. People who are expelled make the papers and that's the last place we want to be."

"Why?"

"Do you want to be on the front page of the paper with a headline that says, 'Mischief makers expelled from Diamond Heights Private Academy'? It's like telling all post-secondary educational institutes that we're no good."

"So don't pull the prank," Spencer told them, thinking the answer to be quiet obvious, which it was.

"There's no fun in that! And it'd be fun to see if we could all do it and not get caught."

Again the boys exchanged looks before shrugging. What could it hurt?

….

What could it hurt, Tala snorted to himself as he waited outside, in the pitch black, while Wolfy crawled through an impossibly narrow vent. Why had he thought that? Oh, right, because he hadn't realized they were so serious or so well prepared for this. Not to mention what they were doing!

Tomorrow was Halloween and they had wanted the day off from class. Wolfy had said something about how it should be a holiday and the other girls had agreed. They were strange ones. The thought made him smile despite himself.

"Tala," Nyx whispered as she sat down beside him. Something in his chest fluttered at hearing his name. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Where are the others?"

"Spencer and Nadia are at the east entrance and Bryan and Kai are at the north."

"Think we have enough time?"

"Teachers don't patrol past midnight. Curfews and the keycard system keeps track of all the comings and goings of the students."

"Good thing we didn't use the doors then," he said, voice very dry from the memory of scaling down the wall outside his window. It had been quite some time since he'd tried anything of the sort and he hadn't been graceful in his descent. To his satisfaction, neither had his teammates.

"We must be prepared for anything and everything," she grinned – he knew she had grinned by the sound of her voice. Not being able to help himself, he felt his lips tug into a smile.

"Yo, get in here," Wolfy told them in a hushed voice from the door.

"Yes ma'am," Nyx chuckled, grabbing Tala's shoulder and pulling him up and into the building.

Inside there were no lights on – only Wolfy's miniature flashlight lit the dark corridor. If anything it was kind of spooky, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud. "I already have a start so I'll be in the basement. The classroom doors are all locked but only with the regular ones. Alarms are disabled as per Nadia's instructions and the other teams have begun their work."

"You guys sound like you've done this before."

Both girls looked at him for a long moment. "Alright," Nyx finally nodded, not letting anything show on her face. "Wolfy, get to work. We'll be down in a bit."

"Yes'm. I be off to the unknown!" And she trotted off, a bag slung over her shoulder.

"Seriously, though, have you done this before?" he asked again as Nyx pulled out her own miniature flashlight and turned it on before passing it to him.

"Hold this for me, will you?"

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"No," was her truthful answer as she knelt beside the first door and picked the lock. "All you need to know is we've covered all our bases."

"Cocky."

"Very." Her laugh made him smile again as they entered the deserted classroom. "Why don't you forage and I go unlock the next room?"

"Sounds good."

"See you in a bit then."

Classroom after classroom was emptied of it's chalk. When they were nearing the last classroom a voice came over their walkie-talkie, which they had promised not to use unless completely necessary (people with police scanners could pick up their conversations, strangely enough). "The principal just passed by us so you've got to hide." It sounded like Spencer but it was hard to tell over the static filled radio. "Nadia said she's heading in Nyx and Tala's direction." Yup, it was Spencer.

"Shit," swore the brunette as she looked around. They were currently in a classroom with a bag of chalk and empty desks. There was no time to find a broom closet to hide in.

"Get under the teacher's desk," Tala ordered, pushing her under with the bag before squeezing in beside her.

For what felt like the longest time they listened to each other's breath. Time ticked by slowly until the door opened suddenly, slamming against the wall. "Who's in here!" the principal's dry voice demanded as she stepped into the room. "I _know_ someone's here because the door was unlocked. Show yourself!"

Both students held their breath and stared at each other as the lights came on. So much for covering all their bases.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: First cliffhanger of the fic is now over. Maybe I'll do another one sometime soon... Hmmmm..._

...

**Chapter 9**

The two under the desk exchanged frightened looks as the sound of the principal's footsteps came closer and closer to their hiding spot. Did she already know they were there? What would she do if she found them? How could they explain their presence in the empty and _locked_ school building in the middle of the night?

No obvious solutions came to mind as they huddled together, too scared to breath. Tala was surprised that Schenck couldn't tell they were hidden under the desk - his heartbeat was so loud it should have led her right to them!

Just as she was about to turn the corner of the desk and see the two mischief makers a loud crash somewhere down the hall made her stop. "Dammit, what the hell are they doing to _my_ school!" she shouted in rage as she dashed off in search of the source to the commotion.

Moments after she left Nadia stuck her head in the room. "Nyx, Tala, let's go! Screw the rest of it, we've got enough."

Wriggling herself free, Nyx peered over the desk with a sigh – Tala followed, a strange look on his face. "Meet you in the basement."

"Aye-aye," the raven haired youth saluted before disappearing.

"What in hell did they do?" Tala asked Nyx as they rushed out of the classroom, choosing to walk in the opposite direction the principal had taken.

"Knowing Nadia's way of thinking, or Wolfy's, probably tipped over some lockers or a classroom bookshelf. Also knowing them they locked the door on their way out to confuse Schenck into thinking there might be a ghost.

_A ghost?_ he frowned to himself. "Would she believe that?"

"Probably not, but we've got a few superstitious teachers around so once she opens her mouth they will jump on it and never want to blame a student for an obviously rattled spirit."

"Huh. You guys do think everything through, don't you?" If anything, he was surprised, and maybe a little proud to be part of something so complex.

"We have so many back-up plans that the alphabet ran out of letters."

"Impressive."

"Time consuming."

"That too," he laughed quietly, unable to hold back his smile as they dashed down the stairs into the basement.

The others were already waiting for them when they arrived. Wolfy grabbed their bag without any question as Spencer closed the door behind them, keeping a look out through the little window.

Tala watched as Wolfy began smashing the contents of the bag to bits with what appeared to be a hammer for pounding meat. Nadia and Bryan helped as much as they could, continuing to hammer at the other bags as Kai fiddled with the controls for what appeared to be the ventilation system. That left Nyx and him nothing much to do except stand around and watch.

"That was too close," Nyx whispered to him through half lidded eyes. She looked tired – that wasn't good. Hopefully she wouldn't doze off!

"It was," he agreed, eyes watching her now as she slid to the ground and leaned against the wall with a heavy sigh. "Are you alright?" He had joined her on the floor, worried.

She looked over at him, her brown eyes lingering on his blue ones. No matter what she looked at he always found she saw more than what was there. The depths of her eyes seemed to hold something that he couldn't quite figure out. Was it pain? Sadness?... He couldn't think of something that could have made her rich brown eyes so veiled with unhappy things.

"I'm fine. Just getting over the adrenaline rush Schenck gave me."

Tala figured it was part of the truth, but not the whole thing. They had been close to being caught, but there was something else that had bothered her during that brief time spent huddled under the teacher's desk. What could it have possibly been?

"Guys, stop being lazy and help us," Wolfy ordered, holding out her hammer. "My arm is about to fall off."

With one last look at Nyx, Tala pushed himself to his feet and took the offered tool. Taking Wolfy's spot, he began to smash the contents of the bag without mercy. His eyes, however, continued to flicker to the two whispering girls. Nadia soon took a break and joined them, where they huddled together, a group of their own.

It finally hit Tala that, though they were friends, they didn't really trust one another. They, The Blitzkrieg Boys, had a past that they didn't wish to share with anyone, while the girls seemed to have something that they also didn't want anyone else to know. This picked his curiosity, which he then shoved back into the dark depths of his mind. He had no business prying into their lives when he didn't want them to do the same with his own. Treat others are you wish to be treated, and all that jazz.

The rest of the mission was spent with his mind so cluttered with thoughts that he didn't really see what was going on around him. The chalk that had been in the bags was a fine powder as they emptied it into the ventilation unit. The escape from the building or how they reentered the dormitory was a blur – he remembered the cool, damp air carried around by a soft breeze that had ruffled his hair. The sound of their footsteps was muffled by the grass, the crickets were chirping so loudly it was as though they were shouting their song to the heavens.

Suddenly he found himself in his room, exhausted by the activities of the night as well as the late hour. His body screamed for the bed, to rest for a day or more. Changing out of his clothing, he crawled under the covers, barely aware of Kai watching him.

As exhausted as his bones seemed to be, his mind was anything but. More thoughts and ideas ricocheted around like a pinball machine in full play, keeping him up for at least an hour after Kai's breathing had slowed and softened with sleep.

...

Kai poked at Tala's sleeping form the next morning. He was oversleeping for the first time in years and, though the alarm had buzzed for over five minutes, the redhead hadn't so much as twitched. This in and of itself confirmed the blue haired youth's suspicions of how cluttered his friend's mind had been the night before.

Something had happened to turn his friend's world around without warning. But what?

The looks Tala had been sneaking towards Nyx and her friends was a clue – maybe when the principle had nearly caught them something had happened? Why was his friend acting so strange? They were just girls.

_No,_ his mind rebutted, _they aren't _just_ girls. They're your friends_.

He shook his head. Such thoughts were not his own. Friends, comrades... those were words Tyson spoke when he was fired up about an upcoming match, or there was something going on that was testing their strengths in other ways. Was he turning into his rival – the silly boy with his grand ideas of how the world should work but didn't? No, that wasn't it. He couldn't have changed _that_ much in so little as two months. Right?

Right.

Shoving those traitorous thoughts aside, he picked up his bottle of water and, with a near silent sigh at the waste, poured the contents onto Tala's head.

The redhead sputtered awake. His eyes said that he was confused and angry, but Kai didn't really care. "If you want to take a shower you have the whole lot of five minutes to do it."

"Why the hell did you pour a bottle of water on me?" he nearly shouted, jumping out of bed to shake his head furiously, spraying droplets of liquid everywhere. "My bed's all soaked now. Dammit, Kai, a poke would have been more than enough!"

As much as Tala was a good guy, his temper, when flared, was nearly out of control. Not that such a thing scared the great Kai. He'd grown up next to this person and knew how to manage the blustering rage that lurked just under the surface of the pale skin. "I did poke, and prod, and shook, and nearly shouted to the sky for you to wake up. Yet you didn't."

"Classes are cancelled anyway," the redhead growled, moving in close as his pupils dilated dangerously. The beast that was his anger was still tormented, irritated at the rude awakening.

"If we don't get ready or show up at the schoolhouse then we might as well hang a sign over our heads that says we did it."

The truth calmed Tala down a little – enough that he backed out of Kai's personal space, gathered his things and stomped off to shower.

Letting out a deep sigh, Kai massaged his temple with a finger. It had been quite some time since the last outburst. Tala's control had come a long way since the first world championships, when Biovolt still had a firm grip in him. The lust for power had awakened that nearly uncontrollable rage and had just about driven the boy to insanity. If he hadn't been beaten...

It was best not to think about, to wonder and worry over what could have happened but did not. It was the past, a bad memory – best to bury it and let sleeping things lie there to fester and rot until the end of time.

Loosening his tie – he hated wearing the stupid thing – Kai sat in his desk chair and waited until his friend returned, temper having disappeared like water down the drain.

"Sorry," was all the redhead said before they grabbed their things and left.

They met up with Bryan and Spencer within moments – being neighbours and all it wasn't much of a surprise. Together they rushed downstairs, where the girls waited just outside in the chilly autumn air. The boys stopped at the sight of them.

Big floppy hats with a large, white feather stuck in each, capes, knee-high boots of leather (hopefully fake), gloves, leggings, puffy shirts...

"Morning, gentlemen," they greeted them as one, bowing with a flourish. "We are to escort thee to the schoolhouse on this fair morn'."

"What in hell," Bryan finally managed to say as the three musketeers took out their fake swords and crossed them together, shouting the famous line of 'all for one and one for all'.

"It's Halloween – we're allowed to dress up as long as we don't show our shoulders, stomachs or thighs," Nadia explained as she sheathed her play weapon and took off her hat to reveal her french braided hair. Playing with the feather she continued, "Last year we were the three bears from the story of Goldilocks, and the year before we were RGB – red, green, blue."

"Do you always dress in teams of three?" Spencer asked as they made their way towards the school house, where they could see a crowd beginning to form.

"Of course. It's so much more fun that way," Wolfy responded with a wag of her gloved finger. "There's no other way to do it, what with having a trio as awesome as we are."

"So why not dress up as a damsel in distress, a knight in shining armour and some evil villain? Then you could act it out all day long," pointed out Spencer.

This caused the girls to stop and exchange looks. "You know, that would be amazingly awesome thing to do. I could run away screaming from Wolfy all day, and Nyx could swoop in and rescue me."

"Yes, but we agreed that none of us are damsels," Nyx retorted, crossing her arms thoughtfully as they began walking again. "And there's no way I'm wearing clanking armour all day long. Or chain-mail. Just no."

"Aw, come on Nyx! We have to do that next year!" whined Nadia as she clung helplessly to the brunette's sleeve.

"I'll think about it then."

"Huzzah! Now 'tis only time before such victory is thine!"

Everyone rolled their eyes and hid smiles as they made it to the crowd of students. Some where dressed up for the holiday while others hadn't bothered. It was strange not to see a sea of identical outfits.

The teachers stood in front of the main entrance, blocking the way for the students. For what felt like forever nothing changed except the whispered buzz that was the conversations between students; everyone was wondering what was going on.

It was only when the principal appeared, angry and impatient, that the students silenced without anyone telling them to do so. The entire staff seemed restless as Schenck took centre stage and cleared her throat loudly. "Students of Diamond Heights Private Academy," she began, voice clipped, anger lurking like boiling water under the pot's cover. "It seems the hooligans have struck again. They wanted today to be a day off, but that won't be happening. Instead, since they refuse to show themselves, you will be busy well into the evening doing work around the campus."

An angry outburst from the students made her smile wickedly. "It's not my fault that they continue to do such immature and stupid things."

Kai glanced over at the three girls, who's fists were clenched tightly on the hilt of their play swords. This was the last thing they wanted, to be hated by their fellow students – for Schenck to use them like this.

This wouldn't do, and Kai could see their minds working, cogs and gears turning so fast he was almost surprised smoke wasn't coming out of their ears and nostrils. What were they planning now?

"This is unfair!" someone far away from where they stood shouted. "You can't punish us all for a couple people's stupid actions!"

"Until this stupid and childish behaviour stops then I am more than allowed to punish everyone as I see fit!"

"Ladies," Nyx whispered, motioning with her hand to Wolfy and Nadia. Winking at the boys, they pushed through the crowd until they were in the front row.

"We refuse," Wolfy's voice carried over the crowd easily. Silence greeted her statement without hesitation.

Schenck blinked down at the short girl, surprised by the words. No-one had ever said anything like that to her. An outright refusal? She was the one in charge; they weren't allowed to refuse!

Everyone could see the thoughts passing over their principal's face. Their classmate was going to be in very big trouble and it was going to happen _very_ soon.

"You are not allowed to punish students with manual labour," Nadia continued. "It's against the school board's policy."

"And you would know this because...?" spat the woman who looked down at them as though they were insects to be squished.

"We educate ourselves on all rules, regulations and policies of all establishments where we might stay." That was definitely Nyx speaking, voice level and even somewhat polite. "You also can't punish the entire school as one when I'm sure there are some people who have alibis for last night when whatever happened must have happened."

"Did you know that witness testimony carries such small weight in the court of law that no-one is convicted on just that?" The smirk on the principal's face made Kai frown with distaste. She was a tyrant.

"We're well aware of that fact," Nadia stated matter-of-fact. "But are you aware that since the curfew has been in place, no-one has left the dormitory building without being caught shortly afterwards? The locks are made to keep the time code of our comings and goings. Do you have proof that it's even a _student_ at this academy? What if someone is coming in from the streets to screw around with things, making it look like it was one of us? Should we still be punished for _their_ misbehaviour?"

"Don't forget," Wolfy interjected before the principal could respond, "that all buildings have locks that we can't open without a teacher's key or our own keycard. Was a keycard or teacher's key used in opening the doors? But if you can't even prove that it was a student, then punishing us as a whole is beyond ignorant on your part. Maybe you should up the security at the front gate instead."

"Silence! I will not be spoken to this way. Detention – all three of you!" she raged, fed up with looking silly by a bunch of girls.

"That's fine. When everyone writes home to their parents about the unjust treatment you're giving to the entire student population you won't have to worry about the enrolment for next year – there won't be any."

Nyx's statement wasn't a threat, though Schenck felt that it was one. And since every one of the students had heard it then they would most definitely go through with it. They were evil little cretins, all of them.

Her rage nearly boiling over, she didn't have much of a choice. They would pay dearly for this, these three silly little girls. Their infinitely misguided words and actions... they were troublemakers to the core and needed to be taught a lesson. It was a good thing she'd given them detention before they had said most of what had been spoken. "Fine then, everyone is dismissed – except you three, Miss Hokoro, Miss Tenji and Miss Hernandez. We still have to discuss your detention."

...

In the weeks to come the girls were busy paying the price for covering up their crime. The first weekend they had to help clean the chalk dust from every classroom – with some help from professional cleaners. The next few weeks had been full of extra homework, lack of extra-curricular activities (swimming, gym, walks...) among other things.

It never seemed to bother them. Every day they were smiling, laughing, having fun. Everyone could tell that it grated the principal's nerves but there was nothing she could do about it. The detention had been assigned and to change it now would make her look flighty.

By the time the first snow began to fall they were free of their sentence.

But things could never stay happy for too long.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: This was actually one of my more favourite chapters to write because it revolves around Tala's point of view. It's so much fun to give characters more depth._

...

**Chapter 10**

It was the first snow of the year and Tala was watching it fall outside his window with a faraway look in his eyes.

His roommate looked over at him and shook his head. Even Kai reminisced when it snowed, but today... today they had a massive project to finish. Tala had already done his part and therefore he was allowed to blankly stare out the window, lost in his own thoughts.

...

He could remember the snow. It fell from the sky in such a lazy manner. All noise seemed to be absorbed by the dancing flakes he tried and failed to catch one on his small, pink tongue.

"Git goin', boy!" his father ordered, voice slurred by the alcohol he'd been consuming for the past week.

Ever since he'd lost his job, his father drank his sorrows away. It had pained his mother so much, to see her husband waste away and then become violent towards her and her son, that only a few months ago she'd died. Since then the beatings had become more violent and happened a lot more often. His father blamed him for everything.

But he was use to it.

Being sent to town every day to acquire liquor was a burden, as he wasn't legal to buy any such thing, but coming home without any was cause for a beating that would leave him wanting to weep in a corner.

Still, Tala was a little boy, and catching snowflakes on his tongue was his only hobby as he walked through Moscow in search of someone to pickpocket or food to swipe.

The man he chose looked rich and had long grey hair. A grin spread over his face, rosy from the chilly Russian air, as he moved in for the job. His target, however, was two steps ahead and seized his cold fingers before they'd even brushed against clothing. "No pickpockets touch _my_ wallet," he rumbled, eyes blazing.

Tala didn't look away - he'd long since lost shame in what he had to do to survive, and this silly rich man would never beat him as badly as his own father. He feared only his blood relative – this person was nothing to him.

"Hmmm..." the man hummed, seeing the lack of fear in the young boy's eyes. "What's your name, boy?"

"I'm not a boy!" was his retort – only his _father_ called him _boy_. "I'm Tala Isanov and you don't scare me, old man."

The man laughed richly. "I like your guts, Tala Isanov. You aren't scared of me – why?"

"Because you're a weak old man."

The boy had guts and a stubborn look that made Voltaire Hiwatari proud. Leaning closer, the man asked, "Do you go to school here in Moscow, Tala?"

"I don't go to school."

"Why not?"

"No money."

"Your parents don't work?"

"Mom's dead and Dad's a stupid drunk."

"Ah! I see. Very interesting," Voltaire hummed again as Tala tried to wriggle free from his iron grip. "I want to meet your father. A child who doesn't go to school is one without a future!"

...

That's how it had started, Tala remembered bitterly. Voltaire had been such a godly figure back them, swooping in and saving him from his own father before whisking him away to the abbey where there were other children.

At first everything had been fun. Classes, friends, playing in the snow... then things had changed.

He'd been shown the basement, the lab... The experimentation had begun and a lot of it was fuzzy. All he knew was he'd woken up and years had passed. He was no longer a child but a young teenager with barely any emotions.

He'd been a failure.

They had wanted an emotionless soldier and he still gave into his anger, his boiling pot of rage. It clouded his thoughts, his vision and made him go berserk. More than once he'd harmed someone enough that they had been forced to stay in the infirmary for months at a time.

The thought of doing such a thing again made him cringe outwardly. Glancing over his shoulder he was glad to see Kai hadn't noticed.

One would think having the grandson of the man who had turned him into an experiment would keep his anger boiling, but Kai was nothing like his grandfather, in both appearance and personality. Instead, he looked more like his departed mother and had his father's way of going about things.

"How's the project?" he asked, trying to get his mind back into the present.

"Almost done," Kai grunted half heartedly. "I really hate physics projects. Who cares when and where the two trains will collide – just stay off the tracks."

"That would be too easy," the redhead smirked. "I did all the work anyway, you just have to finish it up and rewrite."

"It's still tedious and dull."

"Would you rather be playing in the snow?"

Silence greeted his question as he already knew the answer. They were both Russian and had both grown up in a place where it was almost always snowing. It was a reminder of their past and playing in it was just... wrong.

They'd been forced to live in it for weeks, to march through it, train in it... to survive. The snow was not something fun.

A knock on the door startled them both. Tala, being the one not holding a book and papers in either hand, answered the door and was surprised to see the girls standing there in their winter jackets, hats and boots. "How did you get on the floor?"

"Daisuke let us in," Wolfy replied, eyes bright and cheeks rosy from the cold. "We've been playing in the snow and wanted to see if you guys finished your project yet and wanted to join. Hell, join us even if you aren't done!" Her hands were red from the cold as she clapped them together with excitement. Why weren't they wearing mittens?

"No, thanks. We aren't done yet and isn't playing in the snow a little... childish?"

"This coming from the mastermind behind the toilet papered shoe," Nadia retorted with a roll of her eyes. "There's nothing childish about an all out snowball war. It takes skill, strategy, stamina and a lot of luck! Spencer and Bryan already promised that they would join us once they finish up – what about you guys?"

"Too much work left," Kai told them from his spot on the floor surrounded by papers, books and pencils. "Tala can go though; he's just bugging me."

"No, thanks," the redhead replied with a shake of his head.

"Why not?" Nyx prodded, a grin on her face. "Is the big, scary man afraid of a little snow?"

"I'm not scared!" he suddenly shouted. The girls all took a step back, surprised by his sudden outburst. What was wrong with him? If only they knew how close to the surface his memories of pain were lurking.

Breathing deeply, he tried to calm his sudden burst of anger. Once it was more manageable he relaxed his muscles. Why couldn't they just take no for an answer?

"Alright, you aren't scared, we get it," Nyx repeated hesitantly. "So what's so wrong with snow that you won't come out and play with us?"

"It's none of your business," was his sharp retort. It was getting harder to keep the anger at bay.

"I could just stay here and bother you until you spill," she threatened, a smile slowly creeping onto her face.

"Stay if you want," he snorted, grabbing his jacket. "I won't be here." And then he was gone, marching angrily down the hall.

"What's with him?" Wolfy blinked, looking over at Kai.

The boy shrugged nonchalantly. "No idea."

"I'm going to go and make sure he's alright," Nyx told them, a worried look on her face as she raced off after the redhead.

...

"You don't understand!" he shouted, his eyes blazing with fury as he clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned as white as the snow that fell all around them.

"Then explain it to me!" Nyx challenged, eyes just as furious. He was being stubborn, he knew that. But she just didn't get it. He didn't _want_ to explain what was wrong.

"You just wouldn't understand," was his lame comeback as he looked away, breath coming quickly as his anger threatened to over boil.

"How do you know that, Tala Isanov? How can you be so sure?"

Why did she have to keep poking and prodding him? It was none of her business. If she had been a guy he would have punched her right then and there – sexist, he knew that, but it was the truth. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Yes, you do. You get angry and rush off and sulk like a child. You aren't a child so grow the hell up, Tala! Talk to me about it – I _want_ to help."

"I am not acting like a child!" he thundered, anger overflowing as he towered over her. "I am not immature! There are things that happened to me that would make you sleep with nightmares for the rest of your life, Nyx, and I'm not going to tell you about them! You're just a girl."

The slap he received from that comment seemed to echo in the stillness of the snow. "How dare you, you sexist pig!" He noticed the tears in her eyes and felt his heart skip a beat. Whoa, wait, his heart skipped a beat? What was going on? "I may be a girl but that doesn't mean I'm weak. Just because you had a bad childhood does _not_ give you the right to think yourself higher than me."

"I never said that!" His anger was still there, threatening to unleash its fury but he held it back. Something was different – he didn't understand what was happening.

"You implied it, Tala, and that's bad enough. We all have things we wish we couldn't remember – horrible things have happened to everyone in the world. Don't flatter yourself in thinking that yours are the worse out there!

"You think your memories would give me nightmares? My own wake me up at night in cold sweats. They might not be as terrible as yours, but how could you possibly know that!"

He couldn't help it, he blinked and tried to look away. Her hands grabbed his face and forced him to look her in the eyes – she was stronger than she seemed.

"You aren't alone anymore, Tala. You have your friends and us – we're here to _help_ you. If you need to talk, we'll listen; if you need to vent, we'll listen. But if you start getting angry and acting like you have a stick shoved up your ass we _will_ leave you behind."

"Friends..." he had never really had _friends_ before. He had teammates and comrades – acquaintances. But friends?

"Bryan, Spencer, Kai... they've been there for you for a while, you just never realized what that bond was. And now you have Wolfy, Nadia and myself. Tala, you aren't alone anymore. Your past is done and over with. You have to start worrying about today and nothing else. Whatever happened to you... it won't happen again. It made you who you are today, and if you don't like that person then take today, and tomorrow, and the next day to change the person you are into the person you _want_ to be."

"I wasn't suppose to be human," he suddenly blurted out, squeezing his eyes shut so as not to witness her reaction. "I was suppose to be an emotionless cyborg and instead... instead I have this anger..." he clutched his shirt with a trembling hand.

"You had a horrible childhood, but the important part is that that's who you were _suppose_ to be, not who you _are_."

Her hands felt warm on his face. It was the stupidest thing to realize at this specific moment in time, but he couldn't help it. His heart was pounding in his ears, making him think things he'd never thought before.

The roses that had blossomed in her cheeks from the cold looked so cute on her semi tanned skin. Absentmindedly, he wondered if they were as warm as her hands.

Without realizing it, he had cupped her face in his hands. She was as startled as he was and had twitched, but otherwise she stood very still. She was as clueless as he about what he was doing.

Her cheeks were a little chilly, but after a couple strokes of his thumb over them they warmed up. The roses that were already there turned darker and blossomed more fully as he did this, which caused him to frown. Was she getting colder? Maybe he should get her inside where it was warmer...

No. He didn't want to go inside just yet. The others would be waiting for them there and he wanted to be alone with her. Again, he wasn't sure why – this had never happened to him before.

His heart hammered harder in his ears as he leaned a little closer, eyes never leaving hers.

A snowflake landed on her small, delicate and adorable nose and he had the strangest want to lick it off. Instead, he kissed it. Even the skin on her nose was soft under his lips, like the skin on her cheeks was under his hands.

Pulling away just a little, he opened his eyes to see Nyx staring at him with her large brown ones. He liked their shade – not dark but not light either; a nice medium. They were even accented by the nicest eyelashes.

His body thrummed for some reason when he realized that she was red from blushing and not from the cold. Somewhere inside of him something was fluttering and growing warm. He liked the feel of it and he liked her for allowing him to feel it.

A shy smile tugged at his mouth as he leaned in again, gently pressing his lips against her lush pink ones.

Her fingers twitched a little on his cheeks but otherwise they simply rested there, neither stopping him nor pushing him onwards.

Unsure of what she would allow, he tentatively deepened the kiss and she responded after only a brief hesitation. The warm feeling that had been fluttering in his gut burst and filled him from head to toe.

Breaking the kiss, he stepped back just a little, out of breath even from such a short embrace. It did make him happy to see Nyx also short of breath from the experience.

It suddenly dawned on him what had just happened. He had kissed her. He, Tala Isanov, had kissed this pretty girl. That tugging and fluttering in his gut for all those weeks had been his feelings for her trying to get out. He hadn't understood what it had meant and now he'd discovered them without first asking her how she felt. What if she didn't like him the way he liked her? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I never..."

Her expression changed in an instant. It had been a little dazed but now it was emotionless. Had he done something wrong? Maybe he'd kissed her badly! "Don't worry about it," she told him, her voice sounding strange, before she turned and fled.

"Shit."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Updating a day early due to a busy weekend on the horizon – might not be able to find the time to get on Friday/Saturday. Also, I wanted to thank you all for your wonderful support throughout this endeavour~ The reviews that I've received have made me so happy to read that I just want to write, write, write! So a very big THANK YOU to everyone out there who reads this fic.._

...

**Chapter 11**

What was it that he'd done? This thought plagued Tala without cease as he watched the snow fall around him, uncaring of how cold he was becoming.

The memories that had been poking and prodding him early were gone. Just like that they were no-where to be found. The falling snow didn't even stir them anymore. Instead all he could see was Nyx's brown eyes, her rosy cheeks... Her pink lips. He could only hear her laugh, her teasing voice... In only a matter of minutes she'd managed to bury those horrible memories, replacing them with such warm feelings, such warm thoughts.

And now she was gone. Just like that – gone. Which brought his mind back to the problem at hand: what had he done wrong?

His mind replayed their conversation – every word, every expression pressed into his memory like writing on a stone tablet.

Sure, he had been an idiot, saying some of the things he'd said, but she hadn't run away as those horrible words passed his lips. No, she'd run after they'd kissed.

Unable to help it, Tala blushed crimson, hiding his face in his hands. Shaking his head to dislodge the memory as well as the accumulation of snow, he lowered his hands and began to make his way back to the dormitory. By this time, however, the snow was nearly a foot deep, hampering his progress. It wasn't long before his shoes and pants legs were soaked through, toes growing numb soon after.

There were people all around him, laughing and playing in the snow; snow balls flew everywhere, snowmen beginning to form here and there as students enjoyed their weekend to the utmost of their ability. He saw none of this, too deep in his own thoughts to notice any of the world around him.

Stomping the snow from his shoes as he entered the dormitory, Tala made his way to his room, where he was greeted by a startled Kai. "What's bothering you?" he frowned, stacking papers neatly on his desk. "Did Nyx manage to find you?"

"Nothing's bothering me," Tala muttered as he flopped face first on his bed, uncaring to the fact that most of his clothing was wet.

"Right." If he wasn't going to willingly say anything then Kai wasn't about to pry. Truthfully, he was a little curious, but at the same time... he'd get over it.

...

Hoping to run into Nyx at supper, Tala was disappointed when neither she nor her friends showed up. A frown creased his brow as he sat down, shoulders hunched, and poked unhappily at his mashed potatoes.

"Don't play with your food," snapped Bryan, eyes narrowed with distaste.

"I'm not playing," was the heated retort.

His friends exchanged wary looks but he didn't care. Something was wrong – Nyx wasn't here. They'd never missed a meal before today. It was his fault and yet he _still_ couldn't figure out what he'd _done_!

"What's bugging you?" prodded the violet haired youth, voice careful as he was well aware of the anger that slept beneath Tala's pale skin.

"Not a thing."

"Something happened between him and Nyx," Kai suddenly told them, eyes bored as he cut his meat into bite sized pieces.

"Say what?" Spencer blinked, looking up from his plate to stare at the redhead.

"It's nothing!"

"It wasn't nothing," persisted Kai, a glare directed in Tala's direction. "He came back sulking and crawled into bed for an hour."

"You're such a wimp," snorted Bryan, a smirk tugging on his lips.

"At least I don't watch chick flicks without a date."

"Uncalled for and untrue."

"Whatever."

"Did you at least go look for her to talk it out?" asked Spencer.

The three boys stared at their tall friend in silence for quite a while before the redhead thought to answer. "Uh, no?"

"Idiot."

"Agreed," sighed the blue haired boy as he returned to his meal. "A complete moron."

"Hey, at least I did something," shot Tala as he stabbed his potatoes in anger. "You just stare and stare all day and do nothing!"

Kai's grey eyes were the colour of storm clouds now as he pierced his friend with a look. "What do you know about that? You somehow managed to screw up a sure thing."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

People were beginning to stare now as both boys' voices grew louder and louder.

"Please. You look at her when she won't notice and she'll look at you when you won't notice. It's like a game to see how long it would take for either of you to notice!"

"Kai's right," Spencer interjected, voice calm as he pointed his empty fork at Kai then Tala. "You both sneak glances all the time. We've been _waiting_ for _BOTH_ of you to make a move. Kai's falling behind now though."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kai cried, utensils clattering on his plate as he raised his hands in frustration. "I do not have a crush on Wolfy!"

"Who said it was Wolfy?" smirked Bryan as he rested his chin in his hands.

Kai could only blink at the question, unable to think of a retort.

"You're both wimps," sighed the tall one before taking another bite of his food. Chewing thoughtfully, he continued once he'd swallowed. "Seriously, if you like them then go for it."

"I've had enough of this," Kai cried, exasperated with his friends as he stood up and left, his meal barely touched.

"Think he'd mind if I ate that for him?" Spencer inquired, eyeing the plate hungrily.

"Go for it," sighed Bryan as he returned the heated look Tala was giving him. "Oh come on, you know it's true. Suck it up, princess, and man up."

"Oh shut up." And with that Tala left.

"Well, that was productive."

Snorting, Bryan grabbed Tala's dessert. "Right; productive."

….

There were books everywhere; scattered across the table, stacked on the floor... From behind a pile Kai's face appeared looking as tired as Tala felt. There was, after all, only so much homework one could do before being driven to insanity – and they were getting very close to that precipice.

Wanting to bang his head onto the desk from frustration, Tala held back, pushing aside a mound of books to make more room for the papers bearing his work. A soft cough caught his attention and he turned around to see a petite girl with glossy curls and a crimson face. Why was she blushing?, he wondered absentmindedly. "Hello..."

"Uhm, HI!" she squeaked, hastily covering her mouth, her blush deepening.

"Hi."

"Uhm... I'm... my name is Sophie and... I... I was won-wondering if... if..." she stuttered, unable to come up with the right words.

"Yes?" he gently prodded, curious as to what she could possible have to say to him to make her so nervous.

"?"

He blinked a couple of times. "Excuse me...?"

"Ohhhh, I... Never mind!" she nearly shouted but he grabbed her arm before she could dash away.

"Did you just ask me to a winter ball?"

She nodded furiously, lips pursed tightly as she waited anxiously for his answer.

"Uhm, sure, why not?"

"R-r-really?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my god, wow. Th-thank you, Tala! Uhm, why don't we meet up... er, around 7? We can walk to the gym together." Her blush was now a magenta colour, which made Tala a little worried, but he decided not to comment.

"Sure thing."

"I'll see you next week!" she squealed before dashing off, clearly very pleased with her success.

"There's a winter ball in a week?" Tala asked Kai after a minute of silence.

"You're joking, right?"

"...no."

"There are posters _everywhere_ and you haven't seen or heard anything? Every girl in this school is giddy and giggly over finding dates." The unhappy look that crossed Kai's face told Tala just how much that bothered him.

"Do you have a date?"

"Of course."

"Who?"

"None of your business."

"It's Wolfy, isn't it."

"I said it's none of your business."

Smirking, Tala let it go. It was definitely Wolfy – the telltale tinge of pink on the blue haired youth's cheeks told him so.

His smirk disappeared soon enough. Had anyone asked Nyx? Maybe he _shouldn't_ have said yes to Sophie because he had been caught by surprise. Mind you, she was cute, but Nyx... Nyx was the one he wanted to go with, and that was that.

Kai noticed his friend's drop in mood and held back a sigh. Lately the redhead had been falling deeper and deeper into a slump. It was strange. Usually things just slid off Tala – or angered him. Never had it made him so... so... depressed. "Look, that girl's cute. She said her name was Sophie, right?"

Tala nodded, wondering where his friend was going with this.

"Well, she's in our Biology class and is always sneaking looks at you. So I bet she really likes you. Give her a chance and see how it goes. If things fall apart, well," he shrugged nonchalantly, "then they fall apart. Nyx hasn't tracked you down to ask you, and you didn't ask her. Besides, it's only a dance."

Before he could give any type of response to Kai's declaration, Bryan and Spencer joined their table.

"Did you guys know there's a dance next week?"

"Uh, yeah? It's posted just about _everywhere_. Don't tell me you didn't know." Bryan's eyes were wide with disbelief as Tala frowned and avoided his gaze. "You didn't know? Frigg, man, that's... just sad. Almost all the good looking girls are taken!"

"He already has a date," smirked Kai as he twirled his pencil between two fingers. "Sophie, from Biology, came and asked him – it's the only reason he knows about it."

"Congrats," Spencer nodded, happy for his friend. "That means we're all set. I heard we can wear dress pants and shirts instead of our uniforms."

"Yup. But it has to follow a dress code. Guys it's easy – long sleeves and pants. The girls have it strict – no cleavage, no thighs, has to have straps... it's taking all the fun out of everything!"

"Bryan..."

"Yeah?"

"You're a pig," Tala grimaced at his friend.

"Am not. I just think that girls should be allowed to show a _little_ thigh. And straps or no straps is kinda stupid, really. Those thin straps don't do anything, after all."

"Pig."

Exasperated, Bryan threw his arms in the air. "Whatever. Think what you want. But just remember this: I'm going with Nyx."

"WHAT!"

The librarian was on Tala in less than a second, shushing him and giving reproving looks. A warning blazed in her green eyes: one more loud noise from you and you're out of here!

Swallowing his anger, Tala sat back down and glared daggers at his violet haired friend, who shrugged lightly. "Look, I knew you'd never ask her, and better me than some random creep. Besides, she asked me, Tala."

"She asked you?"

Bryan nodded. "Yeah. She said she needed a date and wanted someone she could trust not to do anything."

"Oh," he blinked twice. "So you're going as... friends?"

"Just about. Sheesh, I thought you were gonna have a heart attack, Tala! You owe me ten, Spencer."

The tall boy grimaced as he pulled out his wallet and passed Bryan the money.

"Wait, you guys bet on my reaction?" The anger he'd swallowed was beginning to simmer again.

"Spencer thought you'd punch me, I thought you'd control yourself better than that. You are doing better with it too."

Unable to ignore the pride in Bryan's eyes, Tala relaxed, settling back into his seat. They were right and there was no point getting angry over it. He had a tendency to over-react in most situations and that was a fact he couldn't ignore. All he _could_ do was continue to work on his control. Unlike at the abbey, where his anger helped him win, if he let it control him here he would lose everything.

That was something he couldn't let happen.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: I wrote this chapter while listening to Elen by Secret Garden, and thus it's rather happy. So, hurray for that – happy is always good. After this chapter things are going to get... a little more interesting. Stuff will start happening soon – strange things! :D If you want to know more... keep reading!_

...

**Chapter 12**

Christmas was in the air as people scurried about getting ready for the winter ball. Every tree on the property was adorn with lights and ornaments, wreaths hung from every light post and snowmen could be spotted no matter the direction you faced. Laughter and cheery music seemed to dance through the air, lifting the spirits of even the most sullen of people.

In their room, the girls changed from their regular uniforms into their dresses for the dance. None of them were very happy about having to wear a dress in winter, but they couldn't ignore how much better it looked than pants – at least on them. To compensate for this, the three of them wore spandex, knee length shorts underneath.

"I refuse," protested Wolfy as both Nyx and Nadia advanced on her, make-up in hand, sinister looks on their faces. "Please, no make-up!"

"You have to look stunning for Kai!" they rebutted, wedging her into a corner as they did this.

"I look stunning without make-up!"

"But this will be a kind of stunning he hasn't seen yet."

"...FINE! Just don't overdo it – I don't want to look like a clown."

"Puh-lease, we're only that mean to the principal," laughed Nyx as she carefully applied colour to Wolfy's eyelids.

"I don't get why we have to get prettied up for the dance," the short one continued once they'd finished with her make-up.

"Plausible deniability," Nadia shrugged, adjusting a shawl around her thin shoulders in hope of keeping the cold at bay on the walk to the gym.

"I suppose so," she sighed in response as she stood and brushed at her dress with a hand. "I'm just not use to all this glitz and whatever – too much change."

"But you look fabulous," retorted Nyx as she took one last look in the mirror. "Come on, I bet the guys are waiting for us already."

"If you didn't take all that time with my make-up then we'd already be down there," Wolfy simpered lightly as she grabbed her jacket and threw it on over her spaghetti strap dress.

Both Nadia and Nyx held back laughs. Wolfy's winter jacket was a well worn article with many colourful pins and badges sewn in nearly everywhere – it clashed horribly with her navy blue dress, but she didn't really care. It was cold outside and she wasn't about to freeze because she was too stubborn to look beautiful every second of her life.

Nadia's dress was a deep emerald green that was tied with a decorated knot just behind her neck. It shimmered gaily in the light and gently swished to and fro whenever she moved.

The last girl's dress was a deep red that covered her right shoulder completely. A thin strap could be barely seen on the left side, but since it was there the teachers wouldn't be able to complain.

Grabbing her own jacket, Nyx said, "Nadia, you're going to freeze."

"I refuse to ruin the look of my dress!"

"You're such a girl," scoffed Wolfy, hands hidden in her pockets.

"Maybe, but I love how I look right now and don't want to ruin it," was the pouted reply.

Knowing she'd hurt her friend's feelings, Wolfy smiled gently. "Hey, no worries, you do look fantabulous. I just don't want you to get sick because you nearly froze to death outside."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" she cooed, hugging the short girl, who flailed her arms helplessly.

"Ok, ok! Enough! We're late!" Nyx told them from the door, a frown on her face. "And as much as I love making the guys wait, they won't wait forever. Let's go!"

"Do you think they'll dress up like us?" Nadia giggled as she carefully descended the stairs, heels clicking against the floor as she took each step.

"They have to if they want to be let in," Wolfy replied, skipping down the stairs to wait for them on the landing, amber eyes twinkling mischievously. "Remember what Ms. Deviller said? Anyone showing up in uniform will be put to work, and we're not allowed to wear regular clothing as a general rule."

"She has a point," Nyx told them with a solemn nod.

"A very good one," agreed Nadia.

A smile slowly grew on all their faces, a true sign of trouble to come.

...

Sophie's dress was a marvel. The dark purple material with her auburn hair made her skin seem so pale in comparison. Truly Tala felt himself lucky to have such a pretty date; even if going with Nyx would have made him happier, the fact that this girl had gone to the trouble of asking him here made up for it. They'd spoken a little here and there, since they'd first official met in the library, and he found that she was a rather nice girl. A little quirky but a kind soul all the same.

After the first barrier was broken – which was her gathering the courage to speak to him – she opened up quite easily. It seemed as though she was only shy around people she didn't know, and the more time they took learning about one another the more at ease she became.

Of course, he hadn't introduced her to the girls – he was a little worried what kind of impression it would give Nyx. He liked Sophie, but not in _that_ way. The last thing he wanted to happen was for the brunette to think he was smitten by someone else.

He had told Sophie this a few days before the dance. She had been surprised but accepted it all the same. It seemed as though she'd asked him to the dance because he seemed like a nice person – not to mention she did think he was super cute. But it was fine, she understood, or so she claimed. It was hard to tell.

Having arrived on time, they had a chance to marvel at the many decorations – such as the massive Santa and sleigh hanging from the ceiling with matching reindeer hung here and there – as the music filtered through the speakers, growing louder with volume as more and more students showed up with either a date on their arm or with a group of friends.

Not being much of a dancer, Tala stood awkwardly near the punch bowl, conversing with Sophie. She seemed to be in the same dilemma as him – not once did she suggest dancing, and all of her glances at the dance floor seemed a little scared.

"Tala!" someone called to him. Looking around, the redhead spotted Spencer and waved.

Joined by his friends moments later, he introduced Sophie to them. His eyes avoided Nyx like the plague as his mind tried to block out thoughts of her – like how she was arm in arm with Bryan.

"Hi Sophie," greeted Nadia with a beaming smile as she released Spencer's arm and latched onto the shy girl. "We must go and dance!"

"Uhm, I can't dance," she squeaked helplessly as Nyx clamped onto her other arm.

"Neither can we," the brunette assured her in a cheerful tone. "But that doesn't matter – this night is about having some fun, not about worrying how graceful you are on the dance floor."

"We all have two left feet," Wolfy nodded in agreement, arms crossed with a solemn expression on her face. Tala noticed Kai sneaking looks at the girl on his arm but said nothing – she did look good with her dress and hair done up, not to mention the hints of colour around her eyes, but he wasn't about to point it out. His friend obviously agreed and that's what mattered. "Let's go and make fools of ourselves together!" And, together, they dragged the poor stuttering girl to the dance floor.

From the sideline the boys watched the girls dance – or perhaps stumble and twirl unsuccessfully would be a better term for what they were doing. Still, they seemed to having a good time, even Sophie. They were all smiles and laughter as they spun each other around, feet getting caught with one another's and hips swaying to a beat that wasn't anything like the song's playing over the speakers.

Some time later they returned to the boys' side, breathless but giddy from the dancing. A fast paced song had begun to play with a beat that would make anyone want to get up and dance. Each girl grabbed their respective date, dragging them to the floor amidst countless ignored refusals and complaints.

The beat was so chipper, so happy and flowed like warm waves in the air. It wasn't a popular song, as it sounded more country, more polka appropriate than anything. Still, Nadia grabbed Spencer's hands and placed one on her hip, the other clasped tightly with her own. "One, two, three," she counted for him, taking the steps slowly until he glided along with her.

"You dance well," he commented, twirling her as she laughed in a breathless manner.

"Only with a partner," was her reply as she accidentally stepped on his foot. "And even then I still have two left feet."

He could only chuckle at her as they bumped into Kai and Wolfy, who proceeded to awkwardly twirl away, both laughing as they did so.

Other students joined them after a moment while those who stayed on the side lines clapped to the beat. Couples twirled all around, laughter cascading everywhere like a rushing river as people bumped into one another, others dancing as gracefully as swans.

And thus the night went on, song after song enjoyed by most everyone as dancers twirled about, some making fools of themselves while others seemed to have been born only to dance.

Needing a break, the girls found some chairs and flopped down, fanning themselves with their hands as the boys left to get them some punch. "Who would have thought we'd ever be able to get them to dance," panted Nyx as she wiped her brow with a hand.

"It was quite fun, wasn't it?" Sophie grinned from ear to ear, at ease with the girls who'd helped her escape the shell that she'd been hiding in beforehand.

"Unfortunately for us, Tala seems to be the only one who can dance without tripping over his own feet," Wolfy pointed out with a giggle. "Lucky for you, Sophie. My feet are sore from Kai stepping on them."

Nyx schooled her face carefully, hiding how much she had wanted to dance with the redhead and how jealous she felt towards Sophie. A smile tugged at her lips at the memory of Bryan managing to tangle himself in his own feet.

It wasn't Sophie's fault that Tala had agreed to go to the dance with her. Maybe if she, Nyx, hadn't run away after they'd kissed then things would be different between them. But... he'd apologized, as though it had been a mistake; as though he'd regretted the action. It had hurt her so much when he'd said he was sorry. She wasn't sorry that it had happened and that above all else had cut the worse.

"What's wrong?" Nadia poked her gently.

Blinking, Nyx looked around. "Huh? Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought!" A sheepish smile spread across her face.

"We can't have that," frowned Wolfy, who jumped to her feet, hands on her hips. "Not now, not tonight! You must be alert, focused and ready!"

"For what?" questioned Sophie, wondering what on earth the short one was talking about.

"To dance, of course!" she shouted, arm pumping the air with great energy as she spoke. "To dance until we can dance no more!"

"Is she always this energetic?"

"No, when she sleeps she's pretty still – though once and a while she does twitch," Nyx informed their new friend as their dates returned and passed them each a glass of punch, which disappeared within seconds as they greedily gulped the liquid.

"It's about time," Nadia sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair, setting her empty cup on the floor.

"Time for what?" inquired a curious Spencer, who pulled a chair up beside his date.

"Every year Schenck gives a speech at the winter ball about Christmas, what it means and so forth."

"It ruins the mood every time," Wolfy nodded, sipping at the remainder of her punch, a frown creasing her brow. "She should at least _realize_ how bored we get, slouching in our seats or going to the bathroom never to return."

"Remember? Once the speech starts you can't leave the gym," Nyx pointed out. "Last year half the school managed to sneak out and she banned us from leaving the gym until the dance was over. Also, there are teachers in the halls, marking who's not in the gym at specific times."

"Talk about controlling," Sophie grimaced unhappily. "I just didn't bother coming last year."

"Then it's good you came this year," Wolfy told her, teeth gleaming in the semi-darkness of the gym. "This way we can show you what a good time really is."

The girl in the purple dress laughed at this, clearly happy she'd come and met them.

"Here we go," muttered Nadia as the principal took the stage, microphone in hand. Moments later the music died as moans and complaints rose, clearly aggravated that the dancing and fun had to stop.

"Welcome, students, to the annual Winter Ball," Schenck began.

The dangling snowflakes glittered happily as a loud pop sounded, causing everyone to jump. Seconds later confetti, silly string and snow – which turned out to only be little round bits of paper – exploded out of the hanging Santa and reindeer, filling the air until there was a good covering of the stuff atop everything.

It took a few minutes for the air to clear, but once it did nearly everyone burst out laughing. It looked like a winter wonderland now, with the exception of the silly string, which in turn people began to try and remove from their person with little success.

"Decoration committee, meeting, now, in the auditorium!" the principal shouted over the microphone before disappearing backstage.

A gaggle of students slowly filtered out of the gym, their expressions clearly confused and excited by what had happened. A few were worried over how the principal seemed to blame them for what happened, but they couldn't ignore how entertaining it had been. Also, they couldn't forget the fact that it had stopped the regular Christmas speech before it had the chance to begin – a wonderful side-effect.

"Haha," Sophie laughed loudly, grabbing a handful of confetti and paper from the floor and flinging it unsuccessfully towards Nyx, who burst into laughter at her attempt.

The others joined in within seconds, confetti, paper and silly string flying in every direction. The other students soon joined in the fun, the music accompanying them not long afterwards.

A wonderful end to a wonderful night, they each thought to themselves as they made their way back to the dormitory a few hours later, breathless from the fun they'd managed to have before the principal had returned and shut the entire thing down.

"I love this time of year," Nadia told them gaily, tilting her head to gaze at the bright stars above. "Everything just seems to fit together without a hitch."

"Will you guys be going home for Christmas break?" Bryan asked, helping Nyx free her foot from the snow.

"Most definitely," Wolfy retorted, eyes dancing. "There's nothing like hanging with the family by the fire, roasting marshmallows and having them fall in the fire before you can eat them."

"When will you be coming back?" Tala asked, keeping a tight hold on Sophie's arm as she slipped a little.

"A few days before classes start," Nadia responded.

"All of you?" Spencer frowned a little.

"We're all family," Nyx replied, eyes looking ahead. "We live in the same house and have the same mother, so yes, all of us will be back a few days before classes start."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. You guys are _sisters_?"


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: For some reason I feel like I confused everyone with how the last chapter ended – here's the explanation~ On another note, next week's update might be a little late. I have to take a trip to hunt for an apartment for my new job two provinces over (yup, I'm Canadian), not to mention I can't miss any work while doing this. I'll try my best to update on time, but no promises._

...

**Chapter 13**

The look on Bryan's face as he gaped at the trio of mischief makers made them burst into a fit of giggles. Recovering after some time, Nyx tugged him into motion again. "Not by blood. Our mother adopted us."

"Oh," he blinked, violet eyes still telling her he was confused.

"Nadia was adopted when she was… three?"

"Two and a half, actually," she corrected.

"Ah, sorry. Wolfy was eight and I was nine when I joined our family."

"Huh. How come you didn't tell us?" Tala asked as he held open the door with a frown, letting everyone slip in before entering.

"You never asked," Nadia shrugged. "And it's not important, really."

"Wait," Bryan frowned. "Didn't you say you went to France this year? Why only you?"

"I went to France, Nyx stayed home and Wolfy visited Mexico," she explained with a light shrug of her shoulders. "Every summer one of us stays home while the others travel for about a month to visit friends and family."

"You have family in France and Mexico?" Kai blinked, a little startled by this.

"Our adoptive family is massive. Mom has ten siblings and even more aunts and uncles, not to mention friends through them."

"And you keep in touch with all of them?"

"Just about!"

"Lucky," Spencer told them with a small sigh. "To travel the world just for fun…"

The girls all exchanged looks but said nothing on the matter. After good nights were exchanged they climbed the stairs to their appropriate floor – Sophie's was on the fourth – and only once they were in their room did the trio let out a sigh of relief.

"Maybe you shouldn't have said anything, Nyx," said Wolfy as she looked for her pyjamas. "About our family and adoption and stuff."

"If Biovolt had wanted you back they'd have tried already," Nadia replied with a small huff. "And there's been no news – besides, the boys are Biovolt and they're free; that alone should tell you the place is history."

"What if they came to take me back?" Her voice shook a little as she clutched at her pyjamas.

"I doubt it," Nyx informed her, voice soft. "If they did come to do just that then they're doing a terrible job at it."

"They know that we're the pranksters of this school and haven't said a word to anyone," Nadia continued, pulling on her oversized night shirt. "If they had wanted to bring you back then Biovolt wouldn't have sent them here to woo you over. They're more of the kidnapping type."

"True," the short one nodded slowly, grip loosening on her poor pyjamas. "Yeah, you're right. I'm worrying for nothing."

"We're all just tired. It took a week with little sleep to get those decorations prepped for Schenck's speech – by tomorrow you won't think twice about Biovolt. They're dead – let them stay that way." Nyx stifled back a yawn as she spoke, brush running through her hair as she prepared for bed.

….

To the boys the Christmas vacation felt so very long. They had no family except each other and at Biovolt Christmas had only been a silly myth. Now that they were free and assaulted left and right by merry cheer, well wishes, decorations and laughter they felt utterly alone.

The girls weren't around to lighten their dark moods as they entered the cafeteria on Christmas morning. Very few students had stayed behind for the vacation and thus they ate alone, exchanging no words as none could think of anything remotely happy to say. They hadn't bought presents for each other so they couldn't even thank one another for gifts.

The morning crawled by at a snail's pace as they kept mostly to themselves, shut in Kai and Tala's room, reading and mock beyblading (they didn't want to damage the floor or furniture). By mid-afternoon they figured this to be the worse day of the year – until someone knocked on the door.

Exchanging bored looks with one another, Kai answered the door. Before he could even see who it was a snowball smashed into his face, spraying him with the cold, wet stuff.

Startled, he could only blink at Wolfy's grinning face. What was she doing here?

"You gonna move or what?" she poked at him until he stepped aside, letting her enter. The others were just as surprised as he to see her there.

"What are you doing here?" Bryan finally managed to ask.

"It's Christmas – the holiday for family and friends. You're our friends, so we came back early. Mom isn't ecstatic to get rid of us so soon, but she'll survive."

"Nyx and Nadia are here too?" Tala inquired, eyes wide.

"Of course we are," Nyx sang, peeking around the door frame. "We even brought you some gifts! Come and see."

Still unable to completely process what was happening, the boys stepped into the hall to see four rather large wrapped gifts. The wrapping paper was shiny and well done, with a fancy bow and everything. "Go on then, open them already!" Nadia ordered, a large smile on her face as she bounced from foot to foot. "Here, this one is yours, Bryan!"

Blinking, the violet haired youth stepped up to his present – which reached his hips in height – and prodded it carefully. "It won't blow up or anything when I open it, right?"

"We aren't _that_ mean," Nyx pouted mockingly, pushing Spencer towards his gift. "Open it. Right now."

Wolfy dragged both Tala and Kai to their respective gifts and waited impatiently for them to cease exchanging slightly scared looks with their teammates before slowly unwrapping them.

"Why are they so _slow_?" the short one whinned.

"Because they're men?" Nyx shrugged nonchalantly, watching the paper fall to the floor little by little.

Underneath the festively cheerful wrapping paper was a plain cardboard box. There were no markings, no hints of what could possibly be hidden inside the four walls as they picked at the sealing tape.

"This is ridiculous, guys!" Nyx moaned lightheartedly. "It won't blow up, snap, bite, jump or scream at you. I promise! So open them already!"

Being the first to successfully peel the tape from his box, Spencer carefully pried open the flaps to peer inside. Once he saw what his present was he couldn't keep the smile from his face.

Now that the other boys saw that Spencer's gift didn't implode or explode they were less cautious, ripping the tape from their boxes before opening them hurriedly.

Inside each box was a large stuffed animal of their respective bit beasts.

"We commissioned this amazing stuffed creature maker-person," Nadia explained as Bryan removed the large Falborg from it's box and stared at it in wonder. "She does amazingly detailed work. Do you guys like them?"

"They're huge," Kai replied as he flexed Dranzer's wings.

"Of course they are," was Nyx's retort, a large grin on her face. "We like to either go big or not at all."

"Nyx thought they should have been another foot taller, but we talked her out of it," explained Wolfy, who was very proud of the gifts they'd given their male friends.

"Thank you," Tala was the first to say as he tucked his Wolborg plush under an arm. "It means a lot." He tried to catch Nyx's eye but she seemed to be avoiding his.

"Did you guys really think we wouldn't at least call and wish you a Merry Christmas?" Nadia inquired, eyes wide.

"Truthfully, yes," Bryan answered with a sigh, shoulders hunched.

"We've never celebrated Christmas before," Spencer tried to explain, a sheepish look growing on his face. "We didn't get you guys anything."

"That's fine," Wolfy grinned devilishly. "It just means you have to do what we want to do for the rest of the day!"

The Blitzkrieg Boys exchanged semi-frightened looks before nodding. "Alright," said Kai. "Just let us put these away."

...

The rest of the day was spent keeping busy; snowball wars, pulling harmless pranks on one another, chases and laughter ensued as time passed by in the blink of an eye.

By the time night came they were all exhausted from the busy day, retiring to their rooms early.

Tala lay awake for some time, mind turning over the day. It had been the best, if not the only, Christmas he'd ever had, and it was thanks to those girls. Turning his head, his eyes rested on the massive Wolborg plush that lay on his desk. It was so detailed, so well made... the girls must have done quite a bit of research in order to know exactly what his bitbeast looked like, let alone have him replicated in plush form.

Even without touching his blade, he knew that Wolborg was proud of it's miniature version. It felt flattered more than anything, happy to be thought of on this day – even though it didn't quite understand the concept behind any holiday, big or small; it was a mythical beast, after all.

Who's idea had it been? Had Nadia or Wolfy thought of replicating their bitbeasts? Or had it been Nyx?

His mind rested on the brunette without realizing it, remembering how she'd avoided his gaze. She hadn't even thrown one snowball in his direction. It was as though she were avoiding any chance of drawing his attention to her. But why? It didn't make sense. If she didn't care about him the same way he did for her why go through all the trouble of avoiding everything? Did she think it would lead him on if she did? Maybe... It was hard to tell, especially with the opposite sex.

Maybe he should just talk to her about it. Would that work? Would she willingly discuss this with him? Did he even want to bring it all up if it meant she would shoot him down?

Uncomfortable with the thought, Tala squirmed a little in his bed, mattress squeaking just a bit as he did so. He froze when Kai mumbled something and rolled over, still sleeping soundly.

Letting out the air he'd kept in, Tala relaxed knowing he hadn't woken his friend. Kai was a light sleeper at best and the last thing he wanted was to wake him and explain why he couldn't sleep. Not that the blue haired youth would care, but he just didn't want to bother with it – just in case.

Rolling onto his side, he slid an arm underneath his pillow, eyes now resting on the dark wall. Yes, he would have to have a chat with Nyx about this – before it ate him up inside.

Talking may not be his strong suit, but it just might help. If he knew what was going on in her head maybe the beast that lurked inside of him would let go, would settle down instead of standing on the edge of the abyss, ready to plunge into the river of rage at the slightest provocation.

He'd learned control – if anything he was getting exceptionally well at reining in his temper – but she unhinged him in ways he'd never thought possible, creating holes in his fortress, giving that beast escape routes that he couldn't figure out how to block.

Yes, talking to her about all of this should help. It had to.

His mind made up, he closed his eyes and sighed just a little, unaware that Kai was awake and listening as Tala tossed and turned.

He was worried for his friend – he understood the implications of what had happened, what may happen in the future – but there wasn't anything that he could do to make it better, make it easier. It was up to the redhead to figure this out. The best thing he could do was support him and try to prod him in the right direction.


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N:You're all lucky – the hunt for a new apartment went super well, so this update is on time. Just a little warning, next chapter things change. Haha. Curious? Good. Plot twists here we come~_

...

**Chapter 14**

Why did girls have to hang out in groups?

Tala suppressed a grumble as he poked his mashed potatoes. Not once had Nyx been alone long enough for him to even bother approaching. It was New Year's Eve and he still hadn't managed to talk to her; it felt like time was running out. In a few days the rest of the students would return from the winter break and then it would be nearly impossible to find some alone time!

His teammates exchanged worried looks, wondering what could possibly be bothering the redhead. He'd been so moody and restless ever since Christmas and they couldn't think of what had happened to put him in such a huff.

"So what're the plans for tonight?" Bryan asked, hoping to get Tala's mind off whatever was bothering him.

"Not a thing," Spencer sighed heavily, arm slung over the back of his chair as he waited for the others to finish eating.

"Kai?"

"I have plans."

"Doing what?"

"It's none of your business."

"Who are you going out with?" poked Bryan, a devilish grin spreading on his face.

"I said I had plans, not that I was going on a date with someone," frowned the blue haired boy, lips pursed.

"I'll bet five dollars it's Wolfy," Spencer challenged.

"Not fair," the violet haired one growled. "**I'll** bet **ten** that it's Wolfy."

"We can't both bet on the same outcome," the tall one retorted. "And I said it first."

"Then I'm not taking the bet!"

"Coward."

"Guys!" Kai cut in, a tick forming on his forehead. "No bets. I have plans and that's it. Whether it involves someone else doesn't matter so mind your own damn business."

"It's Wolfy," Spencer nodded solemnly, which caused Kai to throw down his utensils in frustration.

"Leave him alone," Tala finally sighed, giving up on his potatoes without a second thought. "At least he's getting somewhere with a girl."

So that's what was bothering him, they thought as one. Nyx was throwing his balance and control right out the window. His anger was so close to the surface, frustration and annoyance close behind. Either he had to face her and get it over with, or they would have to keep them separated – it was too dangerous for the redhead to be so vulnerable.

"So what are _you_ doing tonight, Tala?" Bryan asked, attention switching from Kai with ease.

"Hanging in my room, alone, it seems."

"No, you're gonna hang with us," Spencer told him, smile wide. "We'll have a guys night or whatever. It'll be a blast."

"Er, alright?"

Both Bryan and Spencer exchanged scheming looks. What did they have hidden up their sleeve?

...

"Why are we doing this again?" Tala inquired as they climbed the seemingly never ending stairs to the top of the bell tower.

"There are fireworks happening in town, and since we can't leave the school grounds, the best place to see them is from up here," Bryan replied with a sigh. The redhead was being difficult _again_.

"Can't we see them from your window?"

"If you can see through trees then, yes, I'm sure you could," was the snappy retort. "Just shut it and hurry up. They start the second the sun disappears!"

"We still have about ten minutes."

"And what happens if someone else gets there first?"

"Well, there's only one set of stairs going up or down..." Tala began, voice bland as he spoke. "No-one's passed us and we can't hear any noise from up top, and ninety nine percent of the student population isn't even here... I think we're safe."

Spencer only shook his head as his two friends continued to bicker.

Before they reached the top they encountered Wolfy, who was lounging comfortable across a step. "About time," she told them. "I'm running late now." Without another word, she jumped to her feet and brushed passed them as she pulled out her cellphone, disappearing around the corner seconds later.

"That was... weird," said Tala with a frown. "About time for what? What's going on?"

"Nothing," Spencer answered, face showing nothing – but it was too late;Tala was now suspicious.

"What's going on," he demanded this time, halting on a step, refusing to move until they spilled the beans.

"Told you he'd be difficult," Bryan sighed with a look at Spencer. "Do it."

Before he could protest, let alone blink, Spencer picked Tala up, throwing him over his shoulder. "Don't fight," he instructed the redhead, who was now ordering the tall youth to let him down.

"What the hell guys! Let me down right now!"

They both ignored him and made their way to the top of the tower, where they met with Nadia and Nyx.

"What are you guys doing?" Nyx inquired, eyebrow raised in question as Spencer flipped Tala back onto the floor butt first.

"Fixing things," Nadia explained with a sheepish look as she finished her text message and put away her cellphone. "Sorry, Nyx – please forgive me for this, but it's for the best, I promise!"

"What are you – hey! Where are you – DO NOT LOCK THAT DOOR!" Tala's fist banged against the door leading to the stairs without success. Tugging, pulling, kicking, shouting... nothing made his friends open the blasted thing. "What the hell is going on!"

"Is it locked?" Nyx asked, still standing near the railing.

"Yup. Do you know what's going on?"

"Not a clue," she replied with a shake of her head. "Nadia wanted to watch the fireworks from here so I came to keep her company."

It sunk in that he was locked up here, alone, with the brunette and suddenly he couldn't look at her. Averting his gaze, Tala looked over at the sinking sun, eyes squinting against the fading light.

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked him, following his gaze to the setting sun.

"No idea," he grumbled. His heart was racing, his stomach fluttering with a million butterflies. If he didn't calm down he was going to throw up. Now _that_ surely wouldn't help his situation in the least, so he swallowed once, calming his heart as best he could with slow, deep breaths.

Once he figured himself to be under control, he moved closer to Nyx by a few steps, hands gripping the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white within moments. "At least we have a nice view." Yes, that's right. Just be calm, act calm. Talk about nothing until you stop feeling like you're going to vomit.

"You're right," Nyx grinned, face lighting up like the sun. "Nadia will regret this, especially since she _loves_ fireworks. We have the best seats in the house! ... or, errrr, bell tower."

Tala let out a small laugh. She was right, they would have wonderful seats for the show. But it would get pretty cold once the sun was completely gone – he was glad she'd brought a thick jacket, hat and mittens. He was just as prepared, with his ear muffs and whatnot, but since he was use to Russian winters he knew no matter how far the temperature dropped he would be fine. Nyx, on the other hand, would need more layers than he and the last thing he wanted was for her to grow cold.

A sudden mental image of them snuggling atop the bell tower, watching the fireworks, made his heart stutter again, butterflies fighting for freedom in his stomach. Why did he have to think of that? WHY? It was bad enough as is and now he felt even more sick.

"Are you alright?"

Startled, he stood straight, staring at her worried face.

"Tala? Everything alright?"

She was too close. "Uh, yeah, everything's fine," he muttered, taking a step away from her so he could breath a little more easily. The frown that creased her brow made him feel bad about moving away, but it was done and couldn't be taken back. Seconds later another expression passed over her face that made his stomach drop. Was she mad at him? "W-what?"

"Why are you always avoiding me? Do you hate me or something? You don't even want to be up here with me, do you?" They weren't really questions, more of accusations, but he still felt like he had to say _something_.

"Hey!" he cried, anger boiling to the surface in a split second. "You won't even look at me any more, let alone have a conversation with just the two of us. Who's avoiding who?"

His outburst made her step back to the railing, hands bawled into fist. Resting one on her hip, she stared defiantly at him, eyes narrowed and blazing with a controlled fury. Oh, he was in for a ride and he knew it.

"Who's avoiding who? We're both avoiding each other in different ways._ I_ tried to get a conversation in with you a couple times and yet _you_ cut them as short and sweet as you possibly could!"

"I've been _trying_ to talk to you all friggen week!"

"This was two weeks ago!" she shot back. "After the first snow. You avoided me like the plague."

"And you didn't?"

"I'll be the first to admit I was uncomfortable around you afterwards," she sighed angrily, now both fists on either hip as she leaned forward. "But it was _your fault_."

"You're blaming me?" he asked incredulously.

"Uh, yeah."

"What the hell did I do!"

Now she looked away, her fury disappearing just like that. Instead she seemed uncomfortable as she hugged herself. "You regretted it."

It was his turn to blink and look away. Regretted it? Where had she gotten _that_ notion? "What makes you think that?"

Her eyes were back on him, forcing him to meet her gaze as she answered. "Because you said so yourself."

"... what? When did I say that?"

"You said you were sorry, that you didn't mean to do it – that you never meant for it to happen."

Wait, that was what the problem was? He couldn't believe his ears. His mouth worked up and down a couple of times, unable to make any sound through the shock that reverberated through his body. She thought he had regretted the kiss because he had _apologized_? But he's apologized incase she hadn't wanted it to happen! "I didn't mean it in that way." His voice was softer now, his anger having disappeared so suddenly he felt lightheaded.

"What other way is there?" Her voice, her expression... both showed how hurt she felt. It was the last thing he had wanted to do, and in trying to stop it from happening he'd only caused more.

Hands running through his hair, he shifted from foot to foot, unsure how to explain it. He wasn't exactly the best with words and this was beyond difficult to mentally process, let alone bother with the verbal portion.

"It's just... I wasn't sure if you had wanted to or not," he stuttered, fumbling over each word. Hearing his voice he visibly winced and took a deep breath, trying to calm his screaming nerves. "It felt like I kinda... I dunno, took you by surprised. Didn't ask if you wanted to or not or whatever."

"Wait, wait, wait," she laughed almost sarcastically. "You mean to tell me you apologized because you thought I might be mad?"

"Uh... yeah?" Was that bad?

"Tala, I kissed you _back_. If I hadn't wanted to kiss you I would have stood there like a board."

"Oh." Well, now that she'd pointed it out it seemed so obvious. Did he ever feel stupid for everything that had happened – for those few words he'd said that had screwed everything up when there hadn't been anything _to_ screw up!

"So, you don't regret it?" she inquired tentatively, hands clasped tightly in front of her, eyes wide.

From what he could tell she'd been just as hurt as he; they'd both hurt each other and they both regret it. But the kiss... neither of them had had second thoughts about it. That thought alone made Tala's heart soar to the sky above, singing and dancing from joyful bliss.

The fireworks were a distant thought as he moved in and hugged her close, burying his face in her hat. Her arms around him made him relax as he enjoyed the moment.

Never did he want to let her go. Never would he allow himself to leave her behind, to allow others to hurt her. He was hers, forever and always.

No matter what.


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: Plot twists ahoy. Bwahahaha... Anyway. I'm moving next weekend, so there will be an update once I get settled in and internet. Whether it's on time or not... is up for grabs. After that I may have to change the update schedule. My work week is being flipped around (instead of weekends and extended shifts I'll be working normal hours, normal days). If I can keep up then there won't be a change, but... again, up for grabs._

_..._

**Chapter 15**

The dreams were getting worse. Soon Nyx could only sleep a couple hours before waking in a cold sweat, breathing as though she'd run a mile. Never could she remember anything from her dreams except a light and strange pain.

Her friends were worried about her but she didn't want to bother them with it anymore.

Silently, she slid from her bed and tip toed from their room, careful not to disturb either of her sleeping friends.

Once in the hall she let out a small sigh of relief. Freedom, fresh air... she needed to be outside.

Her feet carried her to the fire escape without pause. The metal was cool under her bare feet but she barely noticed as she climbed the stairs to the roof. It was only once the wind combed it's way through her hair did she allow herself to relax.

The sweat was cool on her skin as it dried. Shivering, she hugged herself tightly.

It was strange – she wasn't exactly sure _why_ she'd come to the roof. It would have been much easier to just take the stairs to the first floor and step outside that way. But something had been calling to her – it had whispered unknown secrets in her ear, telling her that the roof was the place she wanted to be at that moment in time. Heights... she wanted to be high off the ground.

She wanted to fly away.

A frown creased her brow as she realized she'd brought her beyblade. When had she grabbed it? She wasn't sure – she couldn't remember.

A shudder ran down her spine as she sat down heavily. This wasn't making any sense. Why had she come to the roof? Why had she brought her beyblade? What was going on?

Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to think of the dream she'd had but to no avail – there was nothing to remember.

This was turning into a repeat and that scared her more than anything in the world.

"What's happening to me...?" she whispered to no-one in particular, fingers tightening around her beyblade as she opened her eyes and stared up at the waning moon.

Spring was just around the corner – you could feel it in the air. She and Tala were finally getting somewhere with their relationship and the friendship between the girls and boys was deepening. Why did something like this have to happen _now_? Couldn't it have waited a year or two?

Did things have to go down hill so fast after finally reaching the top?

_Things will be fine_... the voice inside Nyx's head gently reassured her.

Relaxing her grip, the brunette stared down at her bitbeast with sadness in her eyes. "Nefaya, it's happening to me, isn't it? Just like her..."

_Yes, my small one, it is,_ her bitbeast responded, voice now carrying regret. _I apologize profusely, but do not fear. Things will turn out in the end._

"I don't want to reach the end – I want to stay in the here and now!"

_What we want may not be what is best for us,_ Nefaya tried to explain as lovingly as was possible. _Life is ever changing, small one, and with it we must also change. Time will flow like a river, with it's twists and turns and rapids, but it can never be stopped. One day your time will reach calm waters and you'll understand why these changes, these hardships are so important._

"But why me? I don't understand. What's happening?"

_You are a special human, my small Nyx. It is not often that we meet ones with such open hearts and open minds. Without you I would never be complete._

"What are you saying?" she asked, voice tiny.

_There are things even I do not understand yet... but please trust me. No harm will come to you, but it must be done. They are calling._

"...will I see her?"

_It is most likely. She is the reason we must go._

"... alright. Nefaya, don't leave me." Grasping her blade in both hands, Nyx closed her eyes and let out a breath, calming her nerves.

_I will forever be by your side... Thank you, small one. This will never be forgotten._

...

"I can't believe Nyx got up before us," Wolfy told Nadia as she brushed out her hair before tying it back. "She's usually the one that needs more than one wake up call."

"It's weird, but she hasn't been sleeping well lately. I bet she's already eating breakfast," shrugged the taller girl as she shouldered her bag. "Ready? The boys won't wait forever."

"Yeah, yeah," was the huffed response as the short one grabbed her things and dashed ahead. "Hurry it up or you'll be late!"

"Hypocrite," Nadia muttered with a smile.

"Where's Nyx?" was the first thing Tala asked, eyes moving from one girl to the next. They never left without the brunette, so where could she possibly be hiding?

"Cafeteria I bet," replied the taller girl with a small shrug. "She was up and out before our alarms went off."

"Seriously?" Bryan blinked. "She's usually the one running late."

"We know," Wolfy frowned, cuffing him upside the head. "But there's a first time for everything. Besides, she's been sleeping badly, remember?"

"Ah, right, the nightmares," nodded Spencer, expression serious. "Maybe she couldn't fall back asleep and went for a walk."

"We'll see her at breakfast, and if not then during first period. Come on, I need food before the bell rings!" Grabbing Bryan and Kai's hand, Wolfy took off, dragging the poor boys behind her as Nadia fought to hold back a laugh.

Worry still written all over his face, Tala followed at a quick enough pace, eager to see Nyx before class began.

"You're worried," Spencer suddenly told Nadia as they calmly walked after their companions.

"I am?"

"Yes, you are."

"What makes you think that?"

"You didn't make a fuss about Nyx not being there when you woke up."

"...huh?"

This time Spencer frowned as he tried to find the right words. "You three... have a special... bond or something... No matter what you do the others seem to know exactly how to react. Like when we pulled our last prank (they'd put whipped cream in the sprinkler system then set off the fire alarm) you covered each other without any rehearsals or anything. It's like you just... fit together."

"Ok... what does that have to do with me being supposably worried over Nyx?"

"You don't know where she is, you have no idea why she wasn't there this morning. You just don't know."

"There's plenty of things I don't know."

"But when it comes to Wolfy and Nyx, how many things _don't_ you know?"

"Quite a bit," she pouted angrily.

"No," he retorted, shaking his head. "You know them inside and out. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like you can... feel what they'll do before they do it. Not like reading their minds, but just... knowing."

Averting her gaze, Nadia thought over what she'd just been told. Was it the truth? She was scared that it was. "Nyx isn't the type of person to just disappear like that. If she'd gone for a walk she'd have left a note; if she'd left for an early breakfast she'd have left a note, or waken Wolfy to tell her. It's just... this isn't like her." A tear ran down her cheek and she angrily wiped it away. "I'm worried. Wolfy is too, but we can't show it – not yet."

"Why not?"

Now she shook her head, ponytail swishing to and fro from the motion. "We have this feeling... but we have to wait and see."

"Wait and see what?" But they were already at the cafeteria, where the noise was too much to bother trying to keep a conversation that seemed to affect the girl so deeply.

What was it that they were hiding? Where was Nyx? What was going on?

...

Nyx didn't show up for breakfast or first period, let alone the rest of the day. By the time classes had ended Tala was beyond worried.

"We have to tell someone," he told them in a hushed voice. "She's missing!"

"No," snapped Wolfy. "We can't. Give it another day."

"Why?" he wanted to shout but kept his voice as low as he could, one eye on the librarian who patrolled between the rows of books.

"Look, this is something we can't exactly ... explain. But we have to give her another day," Nadia sighed, massaging her temples in a tired manner. They'd already explained this to the boys time and time again throughout the day but they just didn't seem to want to listen!

"You have to tell us what's going on – both of you. We're friends, right? So trust us!" hissed Bryan, eyes narrowed.

"It's too complicated, and even we don't understand everything," Wolfy shot back, ducking her head as the librarian whipped her eyes around to find the source of the voice.

"What's there to understand? Nyx is missing – if we don't tell someone then we might never find her!"

"Tala," Nadia began with a sigh as she leaned back in her chair. Reclining her neck, she gazed at the ceiling for a long moment. "She wasn't kidnapped or anything like that. The police... they won't find her. She'll come back when she does..." ... if she does, she finished to herself as she held back the tears that threatened to overflow.

"How do you know?" he countered, blue eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Because this happened before," was the waspish reply. "Only to another friend of ours."

"... what?"

Wolfy shook her head at Nadia. "You should have kept your mouth shut."

"They won't let it go, Wolfy. If we don't tell them then they'll never trust us. We'll be alone again."

The short youth fell silent, eyes on her twiddling thumbs. Finally she let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I guess."

"What happened to your other friend? Where is she now?" Spencer prodded.

"Not here, not now," Nadia replied with a sad look in her eyes. "Tomorrow is Saturday, so we can talk then – in the woods. How about after lunch?"

"How about we leave the library and you tell us tonight?" countered Bryan with an impatient glint in his eyes.

"No," she told him, voice strong in her response. "Wolfy and I have to talk things through first and try to figure out what happened – at least as much as we can. We'll talk tomorrow."

Before any of the boys could object, they stood and left, leaving them behind to mull over what they'd said.

"I'm confused," Tala finally told them as he ran both hands through his hair in frustration. "What happened? Where did Nyx go? _Why_ did she leave?"

"Stop beating yourself up," ordered Kai. "I'm sure there's a very good reason why she isn't here."

"What about their other friend – the one we hadn't heard about until just now?" Bryan asked no-one in particular. "She – or he – obviously never came back or they'd be here with them."

"Not really. Maybe they go to another school," pointed out Spencer, though even he didn't believe his own words.

"Yes, and that's why they haven't once mentioned this fourth person," was the sarcastic retort from the one with violet hair.

"I never said I believed what I said."

"Then why'd you say it?"

"Because it's a possibility!"

"A highly unlikely one."

"But still a possibility, Bryan."

"Guys!" Kai cut in, exasperated with their incessant bickering. "Now isn't the time to act like children. Look, we're all worried about Nyx," his gaze locked on Tala's, "and we all want her to come back as soon as possible, but going in circles won't get us anywhere. Let's just wait until _after_ the girls tell us everything they know before jumping to conclusions."

"If it were Wolfy would you say the same thing?" Tala shot at him.

"Yes," the blue haired youth replied without any hesitation. "I'm probably not as worried as you are, Tala, but I am worried. Sitting around worrying about it won't do anything. We need to know all the details before we can do anything. Otherwise, we might just make things worse."

A growl escaped the redhead as he knew his friend was right. But sitting around, waiting for her to show up... it seemed so _unproductive_. He felt like he should be doing something, _anything_, to get her back, safe and sound.

Unfortunately for him, he had no idea exactly _what_ to do to get her back. Where did she go? Why did she go? What made her leave?

He would get most of his answers tomorrow, he knew that much. Waiting, however, was going to be difficult.

All he wanted was to hold her close, to ask her to never leave again.

Was that so much to ask?


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: Totally found my Beyblade OST while packing. Have been listening to it non-stop while writing. Also, on another good note, I've got some BUFFER CHAPTERS written, so updates for the next little while will be on time. (see? Finding the CD was a very good thing for you, too!)_

**Chapter 16**

That night had been the longest Tala had experienced in quite some time.

Thoughts seemed to ricochet around his mind long after Kai had fallen asleep, leaving him as alone as he could be at that moment in time.

Rolling onto his back, he stared into the darkness and held back a sigh. It had barely been two months since Nyx and he had spoken atop the bell tower, mending things and giving them the chance at a relationship. It was still a little awkward between them, but it was a comfortable awkward (if that was even possible). Every time he saw her he couldn't help but smile, think happy thoughts.

She seemed to react to his presence in much the same way.

So why did she leave? Did she even leave of her own free will?

Somewhere inside him he hoped she hadn't, but at the same time he was hoping she had – if she was kidnapped or blackmailed or… something he would feel horrible about thinking she'd left of her own free will. However, if she had left of her own free will then he would be crushed. Had he done something wrong?

Neither outcome was a happy one and he wished that there was a third option – a _good_ option. One that made complete sense and would make them both happy in the end.

Not being able to help it, Tala groaned, pulling the covers over his head in despair. Not only was he worrying like crazy over this girl, he was turning into a sap. A sap! This was just too weird and so wrong.

Tala Isanov… was turning into a sap. A lovey-dovey, goody two-shoes, mushy little sap who was head over heels for a girl. Nothing in that thought made sense to him. Actually, it almost made him uncomfortable to think it.

But… she made him so happy, and he wasn't about to let that go. He supposed he could be happy and not turn into some mushy person who cooed and giggled with his girlfriend.

Even though he couldn't see it he could feel the blush heat his cheeks at the thought. His girlfriend… now _that_ was a strange notion. Who'd have ever thought that that would have happened!

And now she was gone; disappeared like a puff of smoke. Poof.

Rolling onto his stomach, Tala buried his face in his pillow, almost hoping for suffocation. Life was getting so complicated, with these thoughts racing through his already cluttered mind, not to mention the emotions that plagued him on a daily basis.

"Just shoot me," he muttered into his pillow, uncaring if he woke his roommate.

….

Yawning, Tala tried to concentrate on eating his breakfast. His stomach, however, rebelled against the food. Giving up seemed like a good option at this point, his nerves on edge enough without the added problem of vomiting later, but he knew that food was energy and he wouldn't last until lunch without something to eat. Thus he swallowed his oatmeal with some difficulty until his stomach gave up it's protest and went to work.

"You look like hell," Bryan informed him.

"Gee, never would have guess," he snapped back, temper as short as his sleep had been.

"Did you get _any_ sleep last night?"

"Yes."

"How much?"

Tala shrugged. "I don't know, a couple hours?"

The violet haired youth let out a sigh. "No wonder you're in such a bad mood."

"I'm not in a bad mood."

"Save it," ordered Kai with a glare. "Fighting at breakfast isn't allowed. So shut up and eat."

"Yes, Mom," muttered an unhappy and exhausted Tala.

"If I'm your mother then I can order you around," was the snappy retort as the blue haired boy shot Tala a look. "Which means you get a nap."

"You're joking."

"Bryan. Spencer."

"You got it, Mom," they echoed as they got up, grabbed Tala by the arms and dragged him away, ignoring his protests and rather foul language.

"And the next person who calls me 'mom' gets a punch in the face," Kai said to himself before returning to his now solitary breakfast. "Bastards."

….

The nap had actually done some good for Tala, though he would never readily admit such a thing. At first he'd thought it to be a rather ridiculous notion – he wasn't a child who had been bad and could be sentenced to a nap – but the second he'd flopped onto his bed he'd been pulled into a dreamless sleep. If he didn't know any better he would have accused his friends of drugging his oatmeal.

Now much more awake and alert, he ate his lunch with much more gusto than he had his breakfast.

It was a little strange, not having the girls around during a meal, especially on the weekend, but they were probably still trying to figure out how to tell them whatever it was they were going to tell them.

He was hoping they wouldn't hold back any information – heck, if he found out they were he wasn't sure what he would do, but he knew he would _not_ be a happy camper.

And what if what they told them turned out to be something horrible? Then what would he do?

Did Nyx have some dark secret?

What about their other friend? What had happened to her ... or him? Why had she ... or he disappeared? Had they even come back?

All these thoughts were driving the redhead insane so he pushed them as far away as possible, focusing on bringing his fork to and from his mouth.

The Blitzkrieg Boys finished eating in record time, hastily leaving the cafeteria afterwards. Barely anyone spared them a second glance as they left, which was perfectly fine – it meant they weren't acting suspiciously or drawing attention to themselves.

The air outside was crisp, winter still clinging as best it could as spring wormed its way into the world. They could see their breath as they made their way into the forest, careful to make sure no-one was watching as they slipped between the trees.

The girls were already there, bundled for a winter cold with thick jackets and hats. They were breathing into their bare hands in an attempt to warm them. It seemed as though they had a dislike for all things glove or mitten orientated, which confused the boys but they said nothing – the girls never complained about their cold hands and thus there was nothing to say. That, and possibly the fact that the boys never found it to be incredibly cold was the reason they never even thought to ask.

The ground held patches of snow here and there, the earth was soft, feet sinking in easily if they stayed in a spot for too long. Without the snow to decorate them the trees looked forlorn, desolate and perhaps sad. Water dripped lazily from branches, making next to no noise as the boys trudged onward, feet squelching as they were sucked into the mud and then pulled free.

There had been no discussion as to where in the woods they would meet, but there was only one place where they often bladed and hung out – it was there that they found Wolfy and Nadia, waiting patiently, though one could tell they were nervous.

"Hey guys," Nadia waved meekly. "You're early."

"You're already here – did you expect us to come in an hour?" inquired Bryan, eyebrow raised in question.

"We figured you'd be here as soon as you finished eating, so…" the tall one shrugged, leaving her sentence unfinished.

"Just ask your questions so we can get this over with," huffed the short one, arms now crossed, hiding her fingers under her arms as if to warm them more effectively.

"Where's Nyx?" Tala asked without missing a beat.

"No idea," Wolfy replied just as quickly. "If we knew we would have went after her – duh."

"Who was your friend that disappeared?" Kai now inquired, holding a hand up to silence the redhead, who glowered in response but said nothing. There was something about the blue haired boy that made others follow without question – do as they were told without much fighting. He was a natural born leader, even if he didn't look it with his cold and aloof exterior.

"She was a sister, just like Nyx," Nadia began with a sigh. Closing her eyes as if pulling up the memory of the girl, she then continued. "Her name was Sunny. She was... such a happy and warm person – everyone wanted to be her friend." A smile snuck onto her face as she thought back to happier times. "Mom adopted her when I was five – she was a year older than me but we still got along like the best of friends."

"How many people did your mother adopt?" frowned Spencer, going off topic but curious enough not to care – they had all afternoon.

"Just us four."

"Where's Sunny now?" Bryan now asked.

The two girls exchanged looks for a long moment before Wolfy spoke. "That's the hard part – we don't _exactly_ know."

"Ok, how about… what the hell is going on?" This time it was Tala who spoke, his patience wearing thin with how little information they were giving in their answers.

"We can't explain a lot of it," Nadia glared at him for his rude question but didn't comment on it. She understood him being worried over their friend, but it was a little aggravating that he didn't realize that they were just as worried as he. "There's a bunch of stuff even we don't understand very well."

"Tell us what you know then. We're friends – we won't go and tell anyone. We promise," Spencer informed them, the others nodding in agreement.

"Alright, alright," Wolfy finally gave in, glancing briefly at Kai before her focus returned to a nearby pile of snow. "Sunny disappeared when she was around twelve, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right," nodded Nadia.

"For about a year she'd been having nightmares – ones she could never remember once she woke up. Which was a little weird, seeing how she could always remember her dreams."

Both girls frowned as they thought back, remembering. "She started getting a little paranoid about some things – silly things like sudden noises. It was really weird but we just thought it was because of her lack of sleep," continued Nadia as Wolfy seemed too lost in memories to continue.

"One night I remember she got up without a word and left the room – we shared the same room," the short one explained, frown still in place on her brow. "I'm a light enough sleeper, and once someone wakes me up I'm awake. I woke up because our bedroom door squeaked.

"I followed her outside, around the house and up this big hill we have in the backyard. But by the time I got to the top she was gone. Poof. Like she'd disappeared into this air... or the nearby woods."

"You're joking," Bryan accused her in an emotionless voice. "Poof? Just disappeared like that? It's impossible."

"Hey, we said that we don't understand a lot of it," was the snapped retort as the short one gave him a venomous look at his accusation.

"We called the police that time," Nadia interrupted before they could continue squabbling, "but there was no evidence of foul play so they wrote it off as a runaway."

"Could she have run away?" this time it was Spencer who spoke, voice calm and without any under current of suspicion or accusation – only curiosity could be heard in his tone.

"No," Wolfy replied with a shake of her head. "We were all happy with Mom – it was better than where we had been."

"Where had you been?" Kai asked before any of the others could speak.

"Well, I was at Biovolt with you guys," she sniffed lightly, a little offended they still hadn't remembered her even after all this time spent together."

"Wait, you were at Biovolt?" all of Tala's questions slipped away as this new information was presented to him.

"For a couple years. I was young enough that they didn't experiment on me, but old enough to know that there was a lurking darkness, waiting to gobble me up. Either way, Mom somehow got me out of there – I don't know how, she won't tell us, but she did it and not once have I taken that for granted."

Kai blinked at the short one, wondering how he could have forgotten her. Now that it was mentioned, her having been at Biovolt, he did remember a little girl with a fierce personality. She would take on anyone who stood against her, without fear or hesitation. It was a surprise that Biovolt had let such a spitfire go, but for that Kai was very grateful. If she'd stayed until she'd hit puberty she wouldn't be the person he knew and loved. Wait, loved? No, he didn't love her. He shoved that thought roughly aside with the intention of never exploring it again. Love was for wimps, after all.

"Ok, where had the rest of you been?" Spencer now pondered aloud.

"I was too young to remember," Nadia fidgeted a little as she answered. "Sunny had been a street rat, a pick pocket, something like that – she took nothing for granted and no matter what you gave her she cherished it as though it held the secrets of the universe."

"And Nyx?" pushed Tala, hands stuffed as deeply into his pant pockets as was possible without tearing the seam.

"She had an abusive father?" Nadia looked at Wolfy for confirmation only to receive a no.

"It was her mother. Nothing she couldn't handle, really. She was pretty much left to herself until her father got home from work – and since he worked long hours it wasn't much. He was actually the one who called child services – even kept in contact afterwards."

"But why? Couldn't he have just moved out or whatever?" Bryan now asked.

"Her mother was… a little insane," Wolfy laughed nervously. "Like, in an asylum insane, and her father worked too much just to support them that he wasn't able to leave with her, so he did what was best for Nyx."

"Must have hurt…" Tala trailed off, remembering the sad look that seemed to haunt the brunette's eyes.

"Is her mother still alive?" Kai now prodded somewhat gently.

"Yup," nodded the short one. "She's in an asylum, heavily medicated, but overall she isn't too bad a woman – as long as she's on her meds."

"You got to visit Nyx's mother?" Nadia asked, surprised by this turn of events.

"Twice, but it was by pure chance, I swear. And you were off gallivanting around Australia at the time."

"You should have told me," she huffed, cheeks puffed out in indignation. "I totally would have gone with you!"

"You still can – I know which asylum she's in and everything."

"You'd better."

"Uh, guys?" Spencer interrupted in as gentle manner as possible. "You're getting off topic."

"Oh, right," sighed the taller one, shoulders slumping just a little.

"So what made you think Nyx missing was like when Sunny disappeared?" Kai inquired without waiting a beat.

"Nyx has been having nightmares for over eight months now," Wolfy explained, boot kicking at a twig on the ground. "From what Sunny told us about hers, which was about two things – light and strange pain – Nyx was experiencing the same thing."

"Does she normally sleepwalk?"

"No – normally she sleeps as deeply as the dead," chuckled Nadia, fond memories coming to mind.

"But Sunny didn't sleepwalk," Wolfy put in, frowning deeply. "Sometimes she'd mumble in her sleep, toss and turn enough to drive me bonkers, but never sleepwalk."

"So what are you saying happened?" Bryan growled, irritated at how the conversation seemed to be going nowhere.

"That's just it, we aren't sure what happened."

"So why did we have to wait another day before reporting Nyx missing if Sunny never came back?" demanded Tala.

"Because it won't make any difference," said Nadia, hands now on her hips. "They won't find any evidence of foul play, then mark her as a runaway and nothing will come of it. Why bother the police with something we know they won't be able to help with?"

"And what if you're wrong?" Tala demanded next. "What if something did happen to her? What if she did runaway?"

Wolfy shook her head at the redhead. "No, whatever happened to Sunny happened to Nyx as well."

"How do you know?"

The girls exchanged looks once more. "It's a feeling we have," the taller one tried to explain with little effect, so she continued. "After Sunny disappeared, Nyx would always tell us not to worry, that she was fine. She was so sure of herself... it was as though somewhere deep inside of her she understood what happened and knew there was nothing to fear. There was no sign of doubt in her; she truly believed what she told us. We couldn't find a reason not to trust her and it just kinda grew into this feeling – this sort of... bond. Nowadays we just know when something bad happens to one of us, or something really good. Right now we know that Nyx is fine."

"You're joking." The bland expression Bryan gave them made the girls want to crack a joke but they bit their tongue – now as definitely not the time for pleasantries.

"Look, I'm freezing my ass off right now. Can we continue this somewhere warm?" complained the short, raven haired girl as she moved from foot to foot in attempt to warm herself. "Please?"

"Alright. We'll go and chat in our room," Kai nodded in agreement.

"We'll go get some hot chocolate then," Spencer grinned. "Tala, Bryan, come on, let's go."

"What? Wait, we're not done yet. I still have more questions!" the redhead cried as both his arms were grabbed and he was dragged away.

"Tala is so weird," Wolfy laughed lightly, gaze flickering to Kai, who was watching his friends disappear around a tree.

"He's just really worried," was all the explanation he gave before leading the way back to the dorm. "We all are."


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: Blah, blah, blah, more explanations, blah, blah, blah._

**Chapter 17**

Settling themselves on the edge of Tala's bed, the girls blew on their hot chocolate before they dared to take a sip of the steaming drink. The boys found their own seats, Tala and Kai taking their desk chairs while Bryan and Spender settled on Kai's bed and the floor respectively.

"So explain exactly how this... feeling, bond thing works," Bryan was the first to ask, breaking the silence without hesitation.

"It's just a feeling," Wolfy shrugged passively, cradling her styrofoam cup with her hands. "How do you feel anything you don't already know? You can get bad feelings about some things, good feelings about others. They don't have to make sense, but you just... know. It's like that. We just know that she's fine."

"Define 'fine'," Kai frowned lightly.

"Fine is fine."

"Well, there's different types of fine," he continued, frown deepening. "She could be fine, but locked away, fine but scared. Fine and well, fine but lost..."

"She's fine," echoed Nadia as she set her too hot cup on Tala's nightstand. "There's no other way to explain it. I don't think she's hurt, or scared or anything. She's just... fine."

"Mental anguish?"

"Kai, we're being serious here. We don't know exactly what state she's in, only that she's _fine_," grumbled Wolfy as she shot him a look.

He shrugged in response. "It's hard to know for sure if you're telling us everything."

"That's harsh and uncalled for," Nadia snapped, eyes narrowing at the blue haired youth.

"This is something pretty big and you never told us anything about Sunny, or any of this," Bryan retorted in his friend's defense. "It's totally called for!"

"Our sister went missing, under strange circumstances, when we were eleven – so over five years ago now – and there's never been any follow up investigation on the matter. It's not on the forefront of our minds anymore. It's something that happened and is over and done with. How were we to know it would happen again, to Nyx, after all this time, in nearly the exact same manner?" Wolfy shot back, getting to her feet, hands clutching her cup too tightly. Nadia, scared it would crack and spill hot liquid everywhere, grabbed the cup from her friend.

Setting it down next to hers, she said, "And we aren't the only ones who don't tell people everything. Not once have any of you mentioned Biovolt, Voltaire, or anything that happened to you at that damned Abbey. You accuse _us_ of hiding things? You're all a bunch of hypocrites! We knew something of what you'd gone through because of Wolfy, but not the entire extent. We knew and didn't press you for it. Why? Because we _understand_ that it's a touchy subject."

"Unlike you guys," Wolfy hissed dangerously. "We respect your privacy. We have our own secrets, our own harsh times we don't want to bring up and be forced to relive and look at what you're doing to _us_! You're bringing back bad times that we had to live through. True, they're nowhere near as bad as yours, but they're still bad times for _us_."

"We could have chosen not to tell you anything, but here we are, trying our very best. And then you go and accuse us of holding back," Nadia continued, voice low, expression disappearing so her face showed no emotion. "You have no idea the things we've seen, we've gone through."

The boys stared at them silently. They'd never seen the girls like this, speak to anyone in these tones. They weren't really sure how to react and so they refrained from doing anything besides show their surprise.

"Our travels around the world, visiting family... Do you know why we do it?" Nadia whispered.

They all shook their head.

"The Black Plague, wars, monarchies,... All places have a darker side to their history and we get to learn about them – about how people can turn to evil and harm others, how the simplest things can spread and end up killing millions. I was able to learn of France's darker side this summer."

"This summer I went to Mexico, but last summer I was in Germany, to study the holocaust, to see where the concentration camps had been and to learn why those things had come to be," Wolfy told them, tone dead.

"That makes no sense," scoffed Bryan. "Why in hell would your mother make you do all that?"

"She doesn't make us do anything," Wolfy shot back, angry that he'd taken a swipe at her mother. "She would never force us into doing anything like this. _We_ asked _her_ for this and thus it's our own fault."

"Why learn all this if you're just going to use it as leverage against us? Blame us for holding back secrets and you're willingly doing things to give yourself some to hide."

"It's not like that!" Nadia nearly shouted, fists clenched so tightly her knuckles were as white as snow. "It's not like that at all."

"Then explain it," Spencer offered, hands open on his lap as he looked at her with kind eyes. "Try your best to explain it to us."

"That's the problem!" she wailed, tears threatening to fall. She dashed them away impatiently. "We _can't_ explain it because we don't understand _why_ we do it."

"That doesn't make any sense to me," Tala finally voiced, keeping his tone controlled – he wasn't angry with them, not anymore. They were bothered by some ghosts of their past and he understood exactly how that felt. Some of the things he felt, he thought of... there was no way to explain _why_, he only knew that they were there. Where they came from he'd never know and he'd accepted that – he could accept that in the girls as well. "Don't get me wrong, I understand what you're saying, about not understanding... but it just seems... strange, is all."

"Look, our life outside of this school isn't anything like what you think it is," Wolfy tried to explain, hands digging in her pockets. "Here we can be carefree, have fun, cause trouble... but out there is the real world."

"Ever since we all met, Wolfy, Nyx, Sunny and I, we've felt this... thing inside of us. We want to help people – we want to make this world a better place. But in order to do it we have to learn about all the bad that's been in this world, that is still here."

"How do you plan on making the world a better place then? Learning about history won't do anything unless you stand up and do something about it," Kai informed them. "What are you going to do to make this place better?"

"We don't know," Wolfy muttered, eyes refusing to meet anyone's. "We never did know why, or how, or when, or where. We just... know that we will. Somehow."

"And Nyx feels this way too?" Tala whispered.

Both girls nodded.

"And... she feels like her life here isn't.. connected to her life outside? That she is free here, but not out there...?"

"Yes, Tala," Nadia answered, voice gentle.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"She wanted to forget," Wolfy replied this time, voice just as gentle as Nadia's. "She was always the one who tried to see the silver lining in everything. It always made the reality of things hit her harder. There were times where she wanted to forget, to cut herself off from... whatever it is we feel we have to do. I... can bet that... she thought you'd be able to help her, Tala. You managed to change your fate. From being an experiment at Biovolt to a free man."

"She was... using me?" His voice sounded so hurt.

"No," Nadia assured him, head shaking vigorously as if to emphasize her point. "She does have feelings for you. Which, in turned, confused her more. If whatever we think we have to do is only about us, and not others, she will have to leave you behind. She didn't want to – she didn't think she could."

"So I... made things worse... didn't I..?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. "But you also made her happy, and there's nothing in the world any of us want more than that. Happiness doesn't come easily to everyone, and to have someone who brought it to her so easily... You changed her, Tala, but in a very good way."

Still feeling a little guilty, Tala nodded slowly.

"Look, guys, we all have our secrets, our own pasts that we don't want to talk about. Just... please, don't hold it against us."

"We can't answer every question," Wolfy told them, fetching her cup of hot chocolate. "And you can't answer all of ours."

"What questions can't we answer?" Bryan snorted.

"The ones we know better than to ask," was the snappy retort from the short one before she downed her cooled hot chocolate in one gulp. "Look, we told you everything we could, answered the questions we knew the answers to, and that's that. Just... don't bother us about it anymore. Come on, Nadia."

Nadia looked back at the boys as Wolfy took hold of her hand and led her out of the room.

"What do you think?" Spencer asked them after a minute of stunned silence.

"I'm more confused now than before," admitted Bryan with a sigh as he ruffled his hair. "It just doesn't make any _sense_."

"A lot of things don't make any sense," Kai agreed as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "But at the same time, I don't think they're lying. There was something about what they told us, or maybe how they told us, that makes me believe them."

"Are you going by a 'feeling'?" grimaced the violet haired boy. "Really, Kai, you of all people?"

His friend shrugged nonchalantly in response.

"I'm with Kai on this," the redhead finally spoke. "Something seems off about them, but not in what they told us."

"They just seem off all together," scoffed the one with violet hair as he got to his feet and stretched. "Really, do they expect us to believe that they might be meant for something as big and impressive as helping the entire world? Puh-lease."

"Don't count them out," Spencer warned his friend. "A lot of people who changed the world were nobodies to begin with. Poor people can become millionaires, just like a street child can turn into a tyrant that wants to rule over everyone. You can't limit what they might be capable of, Bryan. Who knows what they'll achieve in their life if they try with all their might."

"When did you get so philosophical?"

"As hard as it is to believe, I like to read," he sneered.

"Right," Bryan nodded, switching his attention to Tala. "We'll find her, with or without the girls."

"No," he said, startling them. "We won't find her without Wolfy and Nadia. Summer break is in three months. It's... a really long time to wait, but we'll find her – all of us. If they really believe they can change the world then I want to help, no matter the costs."

"What made _you_ change?"

"Getting out of Biovolt and finding friends," shrugged the redhead. "But it's not the point. From what I got out of the conversation, they don't think they can do... whatever it is they feel they have to do without Nyx. The least _we_ can do is to help them find her, and then help them reach their goal. Right?"

"Why is it the least we can do?" Kai now asked, curious as to his answer.

"Look at how much we've changed since we came here," he pointed out without even having to think his answer through. "They helped us become real people. There were no judgements, no prodding questions... nothing. They just accepted us as is and didn't try to change us – we changed on our own, and for the better."

"As much as this pains me," sighed Bryan, running his hand through his hair, "Tala has a point. They're the first people, excluding your old team, Kai, that saw each of us as a normal person and treated us like one – no matter what we said or did. I'm in, Tala. Summer break will be spent finding her."

"Count me in too," Spencer grinned. "You'd get pummelled without me."

"I can fight just as well as you can," was the bland retort from the redhead.

"Yes, but I have stronger punches and you know it."

Tala wasn't about to fight his big friend about how strong he was or wasn't – Spencer was bigger in both height and width, not to mention most of him was muscle. No, it was best not to bother bickering over something that was so openly obvious.

"Then it's settled. Come summer we get to join the girls in finding Nyx," nodded Kai. "Until then, I'm starving."

"They're serving pudding at the cafeteria," Spencer told them with a grin.

"Let's go then," smiled Tala. "We'll talk to the girls afterwards, about us joining them."


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: I have a proposition for you, my dear readers. Due to many factors that I won't get into, you now have a choice to make. We can keep the updates as is, _**OR**_ we can change them – to twice a week: Friday/Tuesday. If enough people want the change, I'll make it happen; but only if enough people want it. I'll let you know my decision on next week's update!_

**Chapter 18**

It felt like an eternity. The three months that stood between them and summer break crawled by at a snail's pace, leaving them anxious, annoyed and frustrated. The final day of classes couldn't get there fast enough.

Sitting in class, they all watched the clock as it ticked by second after second, seemingly slowing down with each passing tick. They weren't the only ones watching the hands as most everyone had forgotten their final exam and were anxiously awaiting the final bell – the bell that would set them free for an entire two and a half months.

Five minutes... four minutes... three minutes... two... one... forty seconds... ten... nine... eight...

The moment it rang everyone jumped up, cheering loudly before making a dash towards the exits. Within moments the commons were teaming with students, finally free of homework, studying and classes. They had two days to gather their things and have their parents pick them up, but that wasn't on any of their minds at the moment. Right now they were soaking in their freedom, savouring it as long as they possibly could.

Freedom, yes. Freedom was a wonderful thing, Tala thought to himself as he emerged into the bright sunlight, squinting at the people around him until he spotted Nadia a ways off. Pushing past people, he found his way to her side. "Hey, Nadia, think you did fine?"

"I hate chemistry," she whined, shoulders slumping. "Who cares about how, when changing one substance to another, you need to balance out the energy... thing. Stuff. Whatever."

Not being able to help it, Tala laughed. "Nice."

"What? I need the class if I want to go to University!"

"Only if you're going to be taking a medical field... or a chemist. And for some reason I doubt you'd want to be a chemist."

"Oh shush you. Wolfy!" she called, waving the other girl over.

"Yo!" was the happy reply as she bounded towards them, dragging an unwilling Bryan with her.

"How'd your Latin exam go?"

"Not bad. I still think they should change it to Pig Latin – it's so much more fun!" was the grinned reply as she released Bryan's hand.

"Christ, Wolfy, I think you killed my fingers!" he moaned, trying to return the circulation to his digits by rubbing them.

"Don't be such a wuss."

"As much as I'd love to bask in the glory of school being done, we have to pack," Nadia sighed lightly. "Mom's picking us up early tomorrow."

"That's right," Wolfy nodded, eyes wide. "You guys get to finally meet her!"

"...should we be scared?" Spencer joked as he drew up beside them.

"I don't know," the short one counter, a devilish smile tugging at her lips, "should you be?"

"...I hate it when she does that," muttered Bryan, looking away.

"She does look pretty evil," Tala agreed with a thoughtful look upon his face. "But we all know she's just a little doll."

"Hey, who you calling little?"

"No-one," he grinned widely, ruffling her hair as he walked past. "I'm gonna go pack!"

It was only once he found himself alone in his dorm room did Tala stop smiling. It had been hard, these past few months. Nyx hadn't returned, the police had been called and she'd been classified as a runaway, just as the girls had predicted.

Their mother had showed up a day or so after the disappearance had been reported, but the boys hadn't seen her. The girls had been excused from classes for the week as they were questioned by the police alongside their mother, not to mention the investigation that had been held by child services..

There had been plenty of sympathy sent their way, in the form of cards, food and random things. But they ignored most of it, accepting only those given to them face-to-face in politeness and for no other reason. Cards that appeared in the mail were disposed of soon after. They didn't need people's sympathy, pity or accusations. They knew Nyx had left for her own reasons, that she was 'fine'. There was no need for people to send such silly and frivolous things.

Tala wished he felt Nyx the same way her sisters did. He wished that he could just _know_ that she was fine. Such a thing was impossible, of course, but one could always dream.

His teammates and he had no idea where to even begin looking for the elusive brunette, let alone where she might have gone. The girls, however, seemed to have some kind of clue as to where she might have gone. While school was in session they'd gotten their mother to do their travelling for them, having her visit different places worldwide in search for their sister but with little accomplished.

It was as if she'd vanished. Not that she had, but in a world with over six billion people it was difficult to locate one in particular.

And thus it was now their turn to continue the search. He was nervous and excited at the same time. Would they be able to find her? If they did, would she come back with them? Why had she gone in the first place?

So many questions with no sign of answers anywhere. Letting out a frustrated noise, Tala sat down on the edge of his bed, fingers tangled in his hair as he tried to clear his mind.

After a few minutes he stood up once more, grabbing his duffel bag in the process. Drawer after drawer, shelf after shelf he emptied the room of his few possessions, cramming them into his bag without much care. The sooner they were all packed the sooner they could leave.

The sooner he could find Nyx.

...

"Hello, boys," the girls' mother greeted them with a smile that lit up her face.

At first glance she looked like any other person, but upon closer inspection they could see a mischievous sparkle in her eye, the hint of a smile that seemed to be embedded upon her lips and an air of great energy. If they didn't know any better they would have thought her to be the girls' biological mother.

"Hi," they returned in greeting, each nodding a little stiffly. Meeting a parent for the first time was always nerve racking, but since both Tala and Kai were dating two of her daughters it was even more so for the two of them.

"My name's Nora, but you can call me Mom."

"Seriously, just call her Mom," Wolfy told them as she squeezed a bag into the back of the van their mother had rented for the day. "Everyone calls her Mom, even her siblings."

"You're joking," said Bryan, expression dead pan.

"Nope," Nora cheerfully replied as she passed her shorter daughter another bag. "My mother is known as Mama and my father is Baba. Even my husband was called Dad by everyone until he passed."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tala blinked.

"No worries, it was years ago," she assured him with a wave of her hand. "The girls never even got to meet him."

"But she never stops telling us stories of his heroic deeds," Nadia muttered in a mock annoyed voice.

"Heroic deeds?" Spencer inquired.

"We met twenty years ago volunteering in Africa at an orphanage," Nora explained as she shut the trunk of the van. "The children there started calling us Mom and Dad and it kinda stuck."

"You volunteered in Africa?"

"We did a lot of work like that over the years so the names were cemented in place. It's cute, I love having random strangers calling me Mom."

"C'mon, Mom, if we don't leave soon we're gonna miss our plane," Wolfy reminded the older woman as she opened the passenger door. "Alright, boys, let's see if we can all squeeze in this monster."

Come to find out they could all fit, though barely. Wolfy ended up being squished between Kai and Spencer with Nadia and Bryan sharing the two middle seats and Tala having the privilege of sitting shotgun.

Nora kept a constant conversation going between everyone as she drove them to the airport, her smile never disappearing as she gave out an air of calm and control. It was a strange sensation for the boys, as they'd never been so comfortable around anyone so short a time after a first meeting.

Once they'd arrived at the airport the boys were almost sad to learn she wouldn't be able to go with them.

"Why not?" Spencer asked.

"I have a job, y'know," was the chuckled answer. "I was lucky enough to travel as much as I have the past few months, but business trips can only be done in places where we do business. Besides, I've got a serious case of jet lag. If you need anything just give me a shout and I'll come out asap."

"Thanks, Mom," Nadia beamed, hugging the woman tightly. "We'll keep you updated."

"You'd better!"

"We will, no worries. Besides, we'll be on TV," grinned Wolfy as she, too, gave her mother a tight embrace.

"Do you really think she'll be there?" frowned the violet haired youth.

"Yes," nodded Nadia as she grabbed the bag she'd packed for the trip.

The other followed suit, leaving everything else in the van – Nora had agreed to store the rest of their things at the house until they returned. She'd assured them it was no inconvenience and ushered them on their way.

She waited with them until their plane arrived, and stood at one of the large windows and waved until they couldn't see her anymore and they were up in the air, ears popping uncomfortably from the change of pressure.

"What makes you think she'll be there?" Spencer asked the girls once the seatbelt light turned off and he was allowed to stand. Peering over the back of his seat, his eyes rested on the two females in wait of an answer.

"There are descendants of a family that have interested us in the tournament," Nadia told him as she halfheartedly flipped through a travel guide.

"So?" Bryan prodded, joining Spencer in gazing over the back of their seats.

"This family was part of a massive genocide centuries ago," Wolfy retorted, feet up on the back of the boys' seat. "And from what we've gathered, they aren't exactly doing much better nowadays. We think Nyx would go there to do something about it if she could."

"Ok... It still doesn't make any sense."

The short one sighed, letting her feet fall to the ground with a thump. "Look, remember what we told you guys about us feeling like we need to do something big for the world? To make it a better place?"

"Yeah..." he nodded, unsure where this was going.

"Well from what we've found out about this family," Nadia continued, "They still have their fingers in black waters. Nyx was the one studying them and her trip this year was to get more information on them."

"So we're heading to Italy because she might be there. Because of this family who might still be doing bad things to people. There's quite a few mights, ifs and maybes in there."

"We've checked out just about every other alley."

"Other alley?" Tala inquired, looking over at the two girls who shared the row with him.

"We've been researching a lot of things in the past, including organizations, families and others things that were the cause for some of the terrible happenings this world has suffered through. Mom got to check quite a few of them while we were still stuck in school. This trip is one of the few places we have left to check. And since there's a beyblading tournament going on we've decided to enter and have some fun while we're at it," Wolfy explained.

"But what if Nyx isn't there?" Tala continued, anxious to know the answer. "Are we still staying for the tournament?"

"Haven't decided yet," shrugged Nadia. "It all depends."

"On your 'feelings'?" Bryan grimaced.

"Just about. And stop making such a sour face when you say that word, it bugs me."

Letting out a snort, the violet haired one spun around and flopped back into his seat, looking over at the silent Kai as he did so. "What, nothing to add?"

"I trust them to make the right choices. Whatever we do..." he paused for a moment, opening his eyes as he hastily gathered his thoughts. "The girls know Nyx best – they'll know what to do if she's there. If she isn't then they'll know what our next move will be. Stop picking and trust them."

"Trust? This is coming from you of all people!"

Kai closed his eyes again, crossing his arms at the same time before he bothered to speak. "People change."


	19. Chapter 19

_A/N: Since the response on double updates was positive, it will happen. So updates will now be Tuesday/Wednesday & Friday/Saturday. This is due to the great feedback my reviewers have been giving me, as well as the fact that I only have about a chapter to write before finishing this fic (I've gotten waayyy ahead in my buffer chapters)._

**Chapter 19**

Italy was a beautiful country, Rome an even more beautiful city. Bustling with people, there was a constant hum of noise in the background, but they ignored it in favour of gaping at the sites and wonders before them.

Bags in hand, they hailed a taxi as they looked around at the buildings and people. The architecture looked and felt as old as the city itself, but in reality it was as sturdy as any building from home. The people that filled the sidewalks made the city feel full of life and energy – something that was both good and bad. Finding one person in the thousands upon thousands that resided in the city would be most difficult.

A taxi van pulled up to the curb, the driver stepping out to help with their luggage. Once everything was secure in the back they clambered inside, Nadia sitting shot gun as the others squeezed into the back.

"Where to?" the driver ask, Italian accent thick in his voice as he started the engine and waited.

"Piazza Venezia, por favor," Nadia replied with a smile.

"Yes'm," was all he said before pulling out into traffic, horns blaring all around him as he cut a line through moving vehicles to get to the lane he had his eye on.

The tourists were nervous as their driver sped through the city, taking sharp corners at seemingly frightening speeds, barely looking over his shoulder as he switched lanes. But it seemed to be the norm as most of the other drivers did the same. Still, it was nerve racking and by the time they reached their hotel Nadia was certain her hand print was embedded in the arm rest.

"Thank ya muchly," the driver grinned, tipping his hat as he placed the last bag on the ground before accepting his fair and speeding back into traffic, more horns blaring as he did so.

"Let's never ask that cabby to give us a ride ever again," Nadia smiled tentatively as she shouldered her bag. "I think I lost twenty years of my life."

"No kidding," snorted the short one. "C'mon, let's check in so we can explore."

Inside was a sight to see. The walls were painted a warm colour, offset by furniture made from a red coloured wood. Plants were set in non-obstructive places that seemed to make the place feel welcoming and homely.

A well dressed man stood behind a large cherry wood counter. As they walked in he looked up, a smile instantly on his lips to reveal even, white teeth. "Bienvenida," he beamed.

"Gracias," Wolfy nodded, stepping up to the counter and, standing on her tippy toes, peered over the edge. "We have a reservation for two rooms."

"Ah, sorry, did not know you spoke English only," he apologized immediately as his fingers flew over his keyboard. "Names?"

"It should be under Dulce Maria Victoria Gutierrez Vasquez Labias Hernandez."

"Ah, yes, Ms Hernandez, you are here. Two rooms, one with two queen size bed, one with single queen bed."

"Sounds perfect."

"I will need identification and credit card, por favor."

She'd nearly forgotten about that part. Rummaging through her bag, Wolfy pulled out her travel visa and an id, which she presented to the man without hesitation.

"Gracias," he muttered, taking both cards in hand and rechecking his system. "Everything is in order. Your stay is for ten days and comes with continental breakfast. Dinning room is on this floor, down the hall and to the right. Your bedroom is on the fourth floor, number 438 and 439. Does everyone want a key?"

"Yes," Wolfy nodded once, taking back her cards and stuffing them into her bag. "We all need keys."

"Un momento." Opening a drawer, he pulled out six keycards and began configuring them to work on the doors to their room. Pulling each out after they finished updating he placed them in a neat pile atop the counter. "There you go."

"Thank you very much," Nadia grinned, passing out the cards.

"Do you want help with your bags?"

"We'll be fine," Bryan frowned at the man, wondering if he thought they were weak or something.

"Very well. The front desk is open at all hours, so if you have any problems you can call or come and see us."

"Alright," Wolfy nodded, grabbing Nadia's arm and dragging her off. She was fed up, seeing that man's smiling face. It was hard to tell if it was real or not, and if she found out it was fake then her fist would ache to knock out a couple of his perfect teeth. Teeth that were just a little too perfect. Maybe she could sneak down later and find out if they were even real...

Nadia would know how to go about doing that, she mussed to herself as they boarded the elevator and she jabbed the button for the fourth floor. Yes, she would inquire about this once they were alone in their room.

Barely a minute later the girls were letting themselves into their room. The door opened and all they could do was stare at what lay before them.

The room was immaculate and quite large. The queen sized bed looked nearly big enough to be a king! There two beautiful wooden night stands on either side of the monstrosity of a bed. On the wall opposite was a rather large flat screen television atop a dresser that must have belonged to the same set as the nightstands.

Inspecting the bathroom, Nadia found the massive jacuzzi tub and nearly squealed with excitement. "I love these tubs!"

"Huh?" Poking her head in, Wolfy's eyes grew wide at the bathtub. "Ooooh, very nice! I call dibs."

"Nuh-uh, I saw it first," Nadia pouted, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"And I called it first."

"Too bad. First come first serve. Now shoo so I can bathe!"

Wolfy rolled her eyes, not really caring enough about the tub to bother continuing the argument. Instead, she chucked Nadia her bag before having the door shut in her face. "That was so nice of you!" she called through the door.

"I'm the perfect angel, I know," was the muffled reply as the sound of running water could be heard coming from the other side.

Chuckling, Wolfy flopped onto the bed, grabbing the remote from the nightstand as she did this before flicking through channels on the television, wondering if any would be in English.

...

"So what are we going to do for the next two days?" Spencer inquired as he sat on the edge of his bed, eyes moving from one person to the next before resting on the two girls lounging on the floor of the boys' hotel room.

"I say we should play tourist," Wolfy pipped up. "Never been to Italy before."

"What should we see then?" asked Tala.

"Well, from what this brochure says, we have to see the coliseum, the Pantheon, the Forum, Capitoline Hill, Piazza Navona, Palatine Hill, Baths of Diocletian and Baths of Caracalla, Trajan's Market, Via Appia Antica and Catacombs and Ostia Antica."

"In the span of two days?" Tala's eyebrows rose.

"Probably not, but the brochure insists we see them all before leaving Rome," shrugged the girl as she folded the paper and tucked it into the waistband of her shorts.

"And are we going to do everything the brochure says?" Bryan inquired.

"Of course not. If we did then there wouldn't be any bathroom breaks," she sniffed in response.

"Oh haha."

"Well, why don't we start now. Which one is the closest, Nadia?"

And so they left the hotel to explore the city. It was soon apparent that hailing a cab would be a life saving skill as they lost themselves nearly right away in the twists and turns of the many streets. Though most people they stopped and asked for directions spoke some English, most was so broken that one couldn't understand much of what was being said.

In the end, Wolfy, sitting atop Spencer's shoulders, waved down a cab in the heavy afternoon traffic. To their luck, it was the same cabby as before. His smile was wide as they clambered into his vehicle. "Long time no see!"

"Too long I'm sure," Wolfy bit back, voice heavy with sarcasm as she squeezed in between Kai and Tala.

"We want to see these places," Nadia told him, handing over one of her many brochures.

"Very good, very good. Tourist-y stuff is very good. I bring you where you want to go at good rate! Come, we go." Still grinning from ear to ear he pulled into traffic and zoomed off at such a speed everyone was thankful they'd had time to buckle up beforehand.

For the next few hours they were tourists, visiting many of the city's key tourist locations with help from their more than eager cab driver.

By the time night fell they had seen five of the eleven sites listed in Nadia's brochure and had decided to call it a day. Their cabby – whose name turned out to be Buddy – dropped them off at their hotel, promising to come running if ever they called for a cab.

Waving him off, Wolfy glanced over at Nadia and said, "Please, can we just call another cab tomorrow? His driving is going to scare decades off my life."

….

"We gonna see the rest of the sites today?" Wolfy asked over breakfast.

"Possibly. Unless someone has another idea?"

The boys all shook their heads. It was still early, barely seven thirty in the morning, but they were dressed, showered and ready to tackle the day… after they had their cup of coffee.

"Look who it is, brother," a voice simpered spitefully as a group of youths gravitated towards their table. "The Blitzkrieg Boys are in Italia."

"And you are?" Bryan frowned, not liking the girl's voice.

"We are Giro de Destino," one of the boys sneered, arms crossed over his thin chest. "You are here for the tournament?"

"Of course."

"And you brought lovely cheerleaders," the seemingly older one grinned, draping an arm over Wolfy and Nadia's shoulders, his Italian accent heavy. Kai bit back a nasty comment as the boy leaned his head between the two girls, eyes glittering with malevolence, as though he wanted to get a rise out of one of the boys.

"You must be the Romano family," Nadia stated, voice calm even though The Blitzkrieg Boys could see the thundercloud just under the surface.

"Sì. I am Carlos Romano," he grinned. "And these are my siblings, Alejandro, Mirabella and Ricardo."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Wolfy replied, voice emotionless as she took a hold of Carlos' fingers and twisted them. "Now get out of my personal space or I'll break these."

"Aie, such a tiger," he winced, drawing himself up. "I like women who are tigers. Come and cheer for our team, ladies, and we will treat you better than these … other bladers."

"Sorry," was Nadia's retort, a sinister looking smile growing on her face. "But we're not cheerleaders. We're in the tournament."

"Seriously?" the one named Mirabella blinked. "You two? Did you not know teams of four are needed?"

"Who said all The Blitzkrieg Boys will be blading?" Tala shot back, enjoying the fact that his question had caught Giro de Destino by surprise.

"You are allowing these girls to break up your team?" Ricardo, obviously the younger sibling, blurted out, eyes wide with astonishment.

"Idiots," Alejandro snorted, rolling his eyes. "To allow someone to break up such a strong team… it is a sad day indeed."

"They're making us sound like the worst bladers and people in the world," Wolfy suddenly said to Nadia.

"You got that vibe too? Good, I thought I was imagining the scathing remarks from the ill-mannered children."

"We are not children!" Ricardo shouted.

"Says the one who was the first to raise his voice in defense," Wolfy sighed heavily, leaning back in her chair as she played with her empty glass. "Look, we don't care what you think. All we care about is that we're going to kick the Romano's ass to kingdom come and then take a picture so you'll never forget it."

"Such big talk from such a small girl," Mirabella sneered, her grey eyes darkening at the sound of Wolfy's challenge. "We do not lose. Ever. We would like to see such a mishmash team try to beat the Romano family – it is not possible, but it will be fun to crush you under our fists."

"And here I thought they'd want to crush us by beyblade, not physical violence," Nadia sighed heavily, carefully setting her utensils on her plate.

"Children!" an older voice called to Giro de Destino, drawing their attention away. "Come." It was not a suggestion, but an order. Their father stood in the doorway, waiting for his family to follow his command.

With one last sneer at those sitting at the table, the Romanos stalked off after their father, clearly unhappy with how the conversation had ended but unwilling to enrage the head of their family.

"Is that the family?" Spencer asked once they'd disappeared around the doorframe.

"Funny how you always meet the bad guys at the beginning of every story," Nadia half-heartedly nodded, propping her chin up with a hand.


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: ...totally forgot about yesterday's update. Oops. But lucky you, PLOT TWISTS and TROUBLE and just random stuff. Stuff that, of course, MAKES SENSE._

**Chapter 20**

It wasn't long before they found themselves at the roman coliseum. The walls towered so far above their heads that Wolfy promptly flopped on the ground and lay there, staring up at the colossal monument with awe. "It's so… _huuuuge_," she breathed.

"Yes, and we get to take the tour," Nadia told her as she dragged the short one to her feet. "Boys?"

"Hurry up!" they called back as the girls found themselves looking around for their friends, only to have been left behind. Racing, they caught up in moments and joined the group of tourists that were being herded inside.

"I hate playing tourist like this," muttered Wolfy as she clamped onto both Kai and Tala's arms. "It's so degrading."

"And how else are you suppose to play tourist?" Tala smiled lightly.

"The way we usually do – sneak in and explore to our heart's content."

"Isn't that illegal?" the blue haired one frowned.

She shrugged in response, staying silent as their guide began to dish out the monument's history.

All the huff about this particular attraction had made Wolfy expect to see something more impressive than old ruins. It was quite a let down for the girl who, after ten minutes of walking and listening, began to grow increasingly bored.

Slipping her arms free from Kai and Tala's, she walked alongside Spencer and Bryan for a little before moving in next to Nadia. "You as bored as I am?"

"Possibly," was the whispered reply.

"Wanna explore on our own?"

"And the boys?"

"One word: distractions."

"Spence," Nadia grinned up at the tall boy, who looked down suspiciously. "Come here." The impatience in her voice made him shrug as he leaned down a little so she could whisper in his ear.

Hearing her plan out, he stood up straight and thought about it for a long moment before nodding. "Bryan, Kai, Tala," he motioned for his male friends to gather around before divulging the plan to them.

"Think they'll agree?" Wolfy asked Nadia, keeping her voice as low as possible so as not to alert any of the tourists around them.

"Definitely. They like causing trouble as much as we do. That and they're more interested in the tour than we are – I'm sure they understand our plight. Better to let you have your way now instead of later, after you've moaned and complained for an hour."

"I don't know if I should be insulted or not by what you just said."

"…it was a compliment."

"….how so?"

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not. I just want the facts straight."

"And if the facts are crooked?"

"When are they not?"

"…good point."

"What are we talking about again?"

"I don't remember anymore."

"Neither do I…"

"Alright, we'll do it," Spencer told them as the boys moved in from their private discussion. "Just tell us when."

"When we give the signal," Wolfy grinned widely, glad that they were going along with them.

"What's the signal?" Kai inquired, stretching his arms over his head as he spoke.

"You'll know it when you see it."

"Or hear it," added Nadia.

"Right, or hear it."

"I take it you guys don't know what the signal is either, do you?" sighed Bryan as he watched them skip ahead. "Yeah, they don't know the signal."

"You expected them to?" Spence chuckled.

"No, not really," the violet haired youth admitted as his shoulders slumped visibly. "I just hoped they would fill us in on the entire plan for once… Oh you've got to be kidding me."

The girls were crouching down, chatting with a kid who was playing a handheld video game. Wolfy glanced behind her, grinning widely at the boys.

"Was that our signal?" Bryan asked, looking over at Kai just in time to miss Wolfy blowing him a kiss. His look soon turned confused as his friend tried to fight back a blush.

"Yeah, that was our signal," he muttered, voice gruff as he cleared his throat.

"What a shitty signal."

"Just come on," Tala laughed as he sauntered over to their tour guide and began asking her questions. Lots of questions. Questions that sometimes didn't even pertain to the coliseum but Italy's history in general. His teammates soon joined him, throwing in random questions of their own, sometimes about the guide's personal life while others pertained to the weather, traffic or other historic landmarks they should visit.

Flustered by their sudden attention, mountain of questions and no chance to get a word in edgeways, their guide's eyes and ears, heck all of her focus was on the four boys who crowded around her, invading her personal space until she stepped back, calling loudly for silence.

The Blitzkrieg Boys stopped talking almost immediately. Barely a second later and the sound of repetitive game music suddenly started as the kid from before unplugged his headphones and turned the volume up full blast.

"I'm sorry, but you have to turn that off!" their guide ordered, flustered by the sudden change of pace in her normally routine day. Never had she had such a group of tourists!

"They make it out?" Tala whispered to Kai, who was looking around without actually looking as though he were.

"Well they're nowhere in sight, so I'd say it worked."

The redhead heaved a sigh. "Well, let's get on with the tour. I wonder what they're going to do now..."

"Sometimes it's best not to know."

...

"Where?" puffed Nadia as she clambered over the ruins of a pillar to land next to Wolfy, who's eyes were busy scanning the area around them.

"Close."

"You sure you saw Nyx?"

"Positive. Why do you think I wanted to get away from the group?"

"Because you hate guided tours?"

"... true, but not the point. I swear I saw her. She smiled and waved before disappearing around a corner."

"What was she wearing?"

"Dark purple top with a lighter skirt? Could have been a dress."

"Sounds like Nyx..." mussed Nadia as she looked around. "Her and purple always seemed to mesh well together."

"Can we just find her?"

"Find who?" an amused voice asked from behind them. Whipping around, the girls stared at the newcomer, who was lounging on a rock as though she hadn't a care in the world.

Her hair was bleach blond and pulled back into a tight ponytail, leaving only bangs to frame a thin face with a button of a nose and a fuller bottom lip. Grey eyes like storm clouds danced gaily as she stared at the raven haired girls with great amusement.

Rearranging the pale orange skirt of her dress, she slid to her feet in one fluid motion. "Whom are you looking for?"

"Who are you?" Wolfy shot back, on guard. "No-one's allowed here."

"And yet here we all are," the girl laughed. "You always were so full of sharp edges."

"Who are you?" this time it was Nadia who asked the question.

"You don't remember Sunny?" another voice inquired from the right. Turning, they could only stare at Nyx and how she'd changed.

She'd gained a couple of inches in height at least while slimming down. If they could take a guess they would say she was built like a swimmer, all muscle and no fat. But it was hard to tell for sure, with her dress. They could tell her torso was toned, but the flowing skirt nearly hid her hips and thighs

"Nyx?"

"Hi guys," she waved sheepishly. "I'm really sorry about leaving like I did... Was Tala... and the boys mad?"

"We're all pissed!" Wolfy nearly shouted as she tackled her friend to the ground, pounding on her chest as she did so. "You selfish bitch, how could you just leave us like that!"

"Wolfy!" Sunny cried, dragging the short one off of the brunette with difficulty. "Calm down."

"I will not! You too! You left us without a word! How could you just abandon your family!"

"We never abandoned our family," Nyx sighed heavily, sitting up with a slight wince. "If we didn't leave then bad things would have happened."

"I've always kept and eye on you guys," continued the blond as she frowned, trying her best to hold down Wolfy's arms with only moderate success. "From the moment I left I made sure to know everything you did, everything you accomplished. I know what school you're enrolled in, your travels..."

"So now you're a stalker?"

"Wolfy, shut up," Nadia hissed, tears in her eyes. "Just... hear them out."

"They abandoned us!" she suddenly sobbed, giving up on fighting as her sorrow finally escaped. "They left us behind. Alone. All alone."

"Oh Wolfy," Nyx sniffed sadly, getting to her feet so she could pull her small friend into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry."

"Why'd you go?" she wailed miserably, barely able to hold herself up.

Scared she would drop her friend, Nyx sat on the ground, drawing the small girl into her lap as the other two gathered around them. "Sunny called for me," she replied with a sheepish look, knowing that what she'd said made no sense.

"We don't have a phone in our room," Wolfy pointed out as she angrily wiped away at the tears that stained her cheeks. "And we would've heard your cell ring; you have the worse ring tone."

"Not that kind of call," chuckled the blond as she plopped down onto the ground, tucking her feet to one side as she reached out and rubbed Wolfy's arm. "You know how you all just know things about each other?"

"Yeah," Nadia replied as the other was still trying to recover. "The boys don't understand it at all."

"You told them?" the brunette blinked, head turning to stare at Nadia. It was then that she realized Nyx's eyes had taken an almost purple tinge in the iris.

"We had to – they were beside themselves with worry when you left. We wanted to make sure you'd left like Sunny before getting the authorities involved again."

"Ah. I bet the adoption agency is looking into Mom due to the two disappearances."

"Yeah, there was a massive investigation that ended with them finding nothing. No surprise there," she sighed heavily, looking over at Sunny. "I barely recognize you, y'know."

"It's been nearly six years. I've grown a lot in that time. You all look different too – the same, but still different."

"So what made you leave?" Nadia inquired, frown beginning to crease her brow as she thought back to that night. "You just... up and left."

"Ah... well..." she nervously laughed, averting her gaze. "That was Pundolar's doing. Wicked thing, she kept giving me nightmares until I started listening to her."

"Pundolar? Who, or what, is that?"

"It's my bitbeast."

Wolfy looked over at Sunny with a deadpan expression. "Your bitbeast was calling you away from us."

"At the time she wasn't my bitbeast. And to be honest, she isn't mine – we're more like partners. Either way, she needed me so I went to her."

"Why didn't you come back once you found her!"

"Because we had things to do," she huffed in defense, cheeks puffing out indignantly.

"Such as?"

"Well, why do you guys travel the world during your summer vacation?" she countered, crossing her arms.

"... same reason?"

"Most definitely," Nyx chuckled as she released Wolfy from her grip and everyone returned to their feet.

"So why did she need you? How did she call you? Our bitbeasts just kind of ended up with us," the short one prodded, standing as straight as she could as she poked Sunny on the shoulder. "Well?"

"It's a long, long story," the blond admitted, looking around. "And here probably isn't the best place to discuss it. Why don't we go somewhere less illegal."

"How about somewhere with something cool to drink," Nyx offered with a crooked smile. "I'm parched."

"Sounds good. As long as we go _together_," glared Nadia as she looked from one friend to the other, linking her arms with Sunny and Nyx. "Come, let's find something to drink."


	21. Chapter 21

_A/N: In the first version of this fic I found Sunny's character a little... lacking. She was added late, as an afterthought kind of thing and I just couldn't get her to mesh in as well as what I'd wanted. So, for the rewrite, I planned ahead (for once...) and got more of her character down before bringing her in. And I foreshadowed. I really did, y'know. Subtly. Somewhere._

**Chapter 21**

The cafe they chose to acquire drinks had outdoor seating, so they brought their sweating glasses into the sun and chose a table a little to the side. Bushes hid them from those passing by on the street but they could peek out through the foliage to watch the road.

There was background noise as the other patrons sat in groups, chatting and gossiping in a myriad of different dialects, leading to an orchestra of sounds. The chances of them being overheard here were nearly non-existent as they settled into their respective seats, sipping their drinks through bendy straws.

"I think there's a hole in mine..." Nyx muttered as she checked the bent part of her straw.

"So how did... Pundolar call you? And why?" Wolfy began, ignoring Nyx who was examining her straw like a surgeon would the inside of their patient.

"Telepathically. You talk to your bitbeasts, right?"

"Of course," she sniffed.

"They don't actually speak our tongue, so they communicate mind to mind," Sunny explained, stirring her drink absentmindedly. "Pundolar is no different. When we first met she explained it to me. Something about doing a mind search, trying to find a compatible mind to meld with her own. She found me and tried calling me to her."

"And those were the dreams?" Nadia asked, voice soft.

"Yeah," was the nodded reply as Sunny gave up on the whirlpool forming in her glass. "I couldn't remember the dreams because they weren't dreams. She was trying to speak to me from too far away."

"So what about Nyx's dreams?" Wolfy interrupted with a frown. "She'd been going through the same thing!"

"Actually," Nyx cut in before the blond could answer. "It was the same thing, except Pundolar was calling my bitbeast. Nefaya was trying to send the message to me the only time she could – while I was sleeping."

"Come again?"

"It's like... transferring a phone call," Nyx waved impatiently. "She couldn't understand the message so she sent it to me to try and decipher., and the only time she could do that with the least amount of interference was when I was sleeping. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to. After a while Nefaya figured out what most of it was and brought me to Sunny."

"Your bitbeast... brought you to Sunny?" Wolfy asked incredulously.

"I let her take over my body so that she could find her more easily," the brunette shrugged, unable to meet anyone's eyes as she spoke.

"...you're joking."

"Nope."

The short one blinked a couple of times as Nadia leaned forward to ask her own questions. "Is that was happened to you, Sunny?"

She shook her head, ponytail swishing back and forth. "No, I found Pundolar in an antique shop, trapped in an old porcelain doll. Since bitbeasts need something to seal themselves to in order to survive, I allowed her access to my body as her vessel, so to speak. There was no way I could carry around a fragile doll and not break it. So we joined forces and have been travelling around every since, trying to find out why she woke from her sleep."

"Her sleep? What was she waiting for?"

"We aren't sure," Sunny mussed, face thoughtful as she took a sip of her ice tea. "But whatever it is it's close now. She's nervous – she can sense the darkness lurking just over the horizon."

"So why did you call Nyx away?" Wolfy grumbled. "Why not ask us for help?"

"Pundolar doesn't trust humans much, for one, and since we're sharing the same body then it makes it hard to convince her to allow others close. It took years before she could access my memories in full to verify what I'd said about you guys was true."

"She didn't believe you?" blinked Nadia, startled by this as the blond was one of the most truthful persons she'd ever met (or had been – time could have changed that).

"To be honest, she wasn't happy using me as her vessel," Sunny sighed heavily. "But she didn't have much choice. Now she's happy about it, but back then she was like a skittish colt."

"Colt? Is she a horse?"

"A pegasus, actually. A beautiful creature."

"Ok, so now answer my other question," the shorter one demanded, shoulders hunched forward as she waited, impatient.

"Uhm... Pundolar says she's like... her other half. The best way to describe it is like Yin and Yang. Pundolar is the sun – her power is based on light – and Nyx's bitbeast is more like the moon, or the night maybe – Nefaya is all about darkness with subtle hints of light to create more shadows."

"And that means we're chopped liver?"

"Of course not," laughed the brunette, eager to sooth Wolfy's bristling temper. "You two are like Sunny and I, opposites yet... the same. Nadia's bitbeast is all about warmth – fire, heat, comfort – while Yami, Wolfy dearest, is all about the cold – aloft, sharp, chilly, strong but... you're smooth, you can be melted. Both you and I are like that – our bitbeasts are opposites of theirs, but without them then we're nothing. Which is why Pundolar could call me and not you or Nadia. I'm the Yin to her Yang... or is it Yang to her Yin? I can never remember which is which."

"Doesn't matter," Nadia told her with a shake of her head. "What matters now is that we're all here. And since there are four of us we can enter the tournament together!"

"Already done," Nyx informed them with a sheepish grin. "We knew you were coming so we signed us up as a managed to high jack the boys' entrance forms and signed them up as their own team."

"Jumping a bit ahead aren't you? What's to say we won't refuse?" shot Wolfy with a huff.

"Are you going to refuse?"

"That's not the point!" she pouted openly.

Everyone laughed at the expression, easing the remaining tension. "We should tell the boys that they're now entered as their own team," Nadia suddenly said.

"Yeah," Nyx nodded slowly, heart suddenly stuttering, nerves humming loudly. She was going to see Tala for the first time in months... would he be mad at how she'd left? Did he still want to be her boyfriend? She hoped so... Her feelings hadn't disappeared – instead they felt... almost stronger than before she'd left. Perhaps the saying 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' had some merit after all.

...

Back at Piazza Venezia, Nyx and Sunny booked a room close to where the others' were. The clerk was the same from when they'd checked in two days ago and Wolfy stood back to watch him, still positive that those weren't his real teeth. Unfortunately for her, Nadia had declined the offer of helping her find out – something about not wanting to cause ruckus in the place they were staying (in case they'd get thrown out).

Silly.

They soon joined her in front of the elevator. "We're in room 481," Nyx told Wolfy as they stepped into the box and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

"When will the boys be back?" Sunny asked, eager to meet them for Nyx had told her much about their adventures.

"Soon I bet. They know we'll be here when their tour is done," Nadia assured them as they stepped out onto the correct floor. "So when did you pick up blading, Sunny?"

"After I found Pundolar. Bitbeasts... they get itchy if they sit around for too long, and beyblading allows them to kind of get out."

"So is she still in your body?" She opened the door to her and Wolfy's room, letting the others enter before she followed, closing it behind her.

"I'm her vessel, so yes. But she can transfer her power to my beyblade during a fight."

"Is it weird, having a pegasus inside of you?" Wolfy inquired as she flopped onto the bed.

"At first," she admitted after a moment of thought. "But you get use to it, right Nyx?"

"It's like having a shadow in the corner of your mind," the brunette added with a small incline of her head. "You're never alone, which is nice, but it's a completely different personality. They can't take over without your consent, or unless you're unconscious, but it's still a little creepy."

"How do you know?" Nadia frowned.

"Nefaya did whatever Pundolar did with Sunny to me."

"So... she's inside of you?"

"Yup. Look," she gestured for her friends to gather around as she moved her ponytail aside to show a marking on the back of her neck. It was faint, almost like a scar, but it reminded them of her bitbeast. "Sunny has one too – same spot, only it's Pundolar."

The blond showed them her marking, letting them trace it with a finger as she held back a laugh – she was ticklish on the neck.

"Did it hurt?"

"Not really. Hurt isn't the right word," Sunny told them with a thoughtful look. "It's more like..."

"A pressure," finished Nyx.

"Yeah, a pressure. It's uncomfortable, but not painful per say."

"Can we do the same with our bitbeasts?" Nadia asked.

Nyx and Sunny exchanged a look. "We don't know," the blond finally confessed. "It kind of just... happened to us. Pundolar thinks that if the bitbeast needs to then it's possible – but there has to be a reason, or a need for it to work properly."

"And Nyx's had a need? A good enough reason?"

"She said Pundolar was anxious, restless... that she really needed our help," Nyx shrugged a little. "I believe she considered it essential to finding Sunny."

A knock on the door made the girls turn and look at it. "Think it's the boys?" Wolfy wondered allowed as she jumped off the bed and went to the door, standing on her tip toes to peer through the peep hole. "Oh, look! It is! Be ready for a reunion, Nyx."

"Uh..." she sounded out before Wolfy pulled open the door.

"Hiya guys! Guess who we found!"

The boys looked in the room and stared at Nyx, who could only wave meekly in reply (what else was she suppose to do?).

"Holy shit it's Nyx." Bryan, with his infallible vocabulary, blurted out, breaking the silence with a crash.

"Tala," Wolfy began, grabbing the stunned redhead's arm and propelling him inside. "You stay. Everyone else, OUT! NOW!"

"We didn't get to step inside yet," Spencer pointed out as Sunny, Nadia and Wolfy stepped into the hall. "How can we leave if-" his voice was cut off when the door shut, lock automatically clicking into place.

"Hi," Nyx squeaked, hastily clamping her mouth shut at the sound.

Tala didn't move – all he could do was stare at her, eyes wide and full of questions. It hurt her to see him so confused; the tears she'd been holding back were beginning to surface at the sight of his pain, and before he could react, she moved to him, wrapping her arms around him and clinging there, burying her face in his neck. "I'm sorry," she mumbled into his skin, holding back a sob as he wasted no time enveloping her in his arms. "I'm so sorry, Tala..."

His hold on her only tightened as he buried his own face in her hair, savouring the smell of her shampoo. She was back, in his arms, safe and sound. From what he had seen she was in one piece, unharmed. Maybe a little taller, a little more womanly in appearance than before, but she was alive and well, and he couldn't have asked for anything else.

"Welcome back," he murmured into her hair.


	22. Chapter 22

_A/N: I have a feeling a lot of you are going to have a 'wtf' moment during this chapter. It's there for a reason. And you'll know it when you read it, I can promise you that much. Sometimes writing just isn't any fun without random things shoved in._

**Chapter 22**

"So you're..." Bryan trailed off, waiting for the blond to finish his sentence.

"Sunny," she replied after a moment, as though she thought he'd add the answer if given enough time.

"I thought you were missing," Spencer blurted out.

"Probably because I was. But today, I was found!" she beamed happily, draping an arm over Nadia and Wolfy's shoulders. "They even managed to find Nyx too. They should be detectives, don't you think?"

"Oh god. She's another smart-ass," sighed the violet haired youth as he threw his arms up in exasperation. "Why do we have to be tortured like this?"

"Well, think of it this way," grinned the short one, showing her teeth. "The Blitzkrieg Boys are now entering the competition as a team. We're signed up as our own, and you your own."

"Say what?" Spencer blinked.

"Yup! Our team is called The Barbershop Quartet."

"You've got to be kidding me," Bryan demanded, eyes nearly pleading with them. "Tell me you _didn't name your team The Barbershop Quartet_!"

"He wants us to lie to him," Wolfy told Nadia with a puppy dog look.

"Which makes him a horrible man," Nadia assured her two friends, who were now giving her the same look. "You shouldn't listen to such people. Pretend he doesn't exist."

"Oh god, why did we have to make friends with these guys?"

"We're girls," Wolfy happily told him, fingers deftly pointing to where her small chest was located. "See? Boobs."

In the background Kai could be seen shaking his head, hand covering most of his face as they continued to exchange 'pleasantries' until the hotel room door behind them opened and out came Nyx and Tala.

"You guys get all your mushy, lovey-dovey reunion moment out of the way?" inquired Wolfy.

"Yes, we did," they both grinned, fingers intertwined with the others' as they tried hard not to look at each other and blush.

"As long as you didn't defile my bed then we're good."

"Wolfy!" Nadia nearly gasped, whacking her friend atop her head.

"Heeeyy! Someone had to say it!"

"I'm much more sophisticated than that!" the brunette huffed. "I would have brought him to my room."

Tala smacked his forehead with the palm of his free hand, holding back a blush, wondering how the girls could act so normal and so silly after only being reunited an hour or so beforehand.

"You guys never change."

"You wouldn't like us if we did, Bryan" countered Wolfy.

"Sure, I would like you a lot more!"

"He says that now," the short one whispered to her female friends, loud enough that anyone could hear. "But if we started being all gooey and talking about cute boys all the time he'd leave us in a split second."

"At least you'd be normal if you did that."

"We're totally normal!" Nadia grinned widely. "We just get bored easily."

"Give it up, Bryan," sighed Kai, exasperated with where this conversation was headed. "You can't win – they'll never let you have the last word."

"That's unfair."

"Life isn't fair. Deal with it. Now, since they're our competition we need to go and train."

"Oh, Kai, that's the nicest thing you've ever said!" Wolfy teased. "To think, he knows he has to train hard if he wants to beat us!"

"And we also know that to beat them we'll have to train just as hard," Sunny told her, leaning heavily on the shorter one's shoulder. "Isn't that right?"

"Totally false."

"So, that means it's right."

"No, I said false."

"But coming from you, yes means yes, and no means yes, so therefore your negative is automatically switched to a positive remark," Nadia explained with an innocent expression.

"Say what? Where in hell did you get _that_ logic from?"

"We can't tell you if you don't already know," Sunny told her mournfully. "Otherwise we'd have to kill you."

"And we could never do that!" exclaimed Nyx, an expression of mock horror upon her face. "We like you too much."

"I don't know whether to be mad or extremely happy," pouted Wolfy as she crossed her arms over her chest in a stubborn manner.

"Perfect," Bryan nodded. "Now we can get away without having to run."

"Heeeeyyyy!" she shouted as he dashed away, laughing as she shook her fist in his direction. "Meany!"

"You know you like it!" he called back with a dangerously devilish look on his face. He would get the last word in if it killed him, and that thought alone made him nearly giddy with excitement.

...

The rest of that day and the next were spent catching up with the two girls as they continued to explore tourist based attractions throughout the city.

With her happy disposition and seemingly infinite well of patience, Sunny was quickly accepted by the boys. After a day spent in her company they felt like they'd know her for years – true, they didn't know much about her, but it was more of a feeling than an actuality.

The girls, however, seemed to have fallen into whatever it was they had been before the first disappearance all those years ago. They joked and poked at each other without fear of upset or awkwardness. It was as though those years (or months, as in Nyx's case) had never happened. Energetic, devious and happy, they managed to pull something just about everywhere they went, causing ridiculous chaos that harmed none but annoyed many.

Finally the first day of the tournament dawned bright and early, leaving a groggy Sunny and Nyx slouching over their steaming breakfast. Nearly inseparable now, Tala sat next to the brunette, prodding her now and then as her head began to dip dangerously close to her food. On the other side, Wolfy was in charge of making sure Sunny didn't do the same, only less gentle about. Instead she would tickle the poor blond's ribs, causing her to spasm in a strange fashion, which in turn caused any food her fork had been touching to fly randomly through the air.

On one such poking, a piece of her egg landed in another patron's coffee mug on the next table over. Unaware, the poor balding man continued to drink it while reading the paper, causing much muffled snorts and choking from their own table.

Finishing off their own mugs of hot coffee, the two teams left the hotel and made their way to the beyblade stadium where the tournament would take place.

Though they had explored as much of the city as possible during the past two days, they had purposely left the stadium out of their adventures, wanting it to be left as a surprise.

And was it ever a surprise.

Not only was it a massive building, it had been designed to be a near perfect, miniature replica of the Roman Coliseum.

Hundreds of people were loitering outside, waiting for the doors to be opened so that they could witness the first round of battles firsthand. The rumble of voices, both high and low, accompanied by laughter and gaiety gave off an excited mood, making the two teams very nervous.

"Oh my god! **It's The Blitzkrieg Boys!**" a girl from within the crowd shouted rather loudly.

A lot of the voices subsided as nearly everyone turned to stare at the beyblading team. Suddenly the air was filled with girlish screams hastily followed by the pounding of feet.

"RUN!" Bryan ordered, voice squeaking a little in his need to get away from the rushing fangirls.

Not one of the boys hesitated as they made a break for the doors. An armed guard stood at the door, having seen and heard what was happening, and let them in, closing and locking the door in their wake.

Outside, the girls were left giggling to themselves as approximately a hundred female fans jostled them aside in their haste to get to the famous beyblading team.

"If one of them so much as puts a hand on Kai," Wolfy growled, hand clenched into a fist as she shook it angrily in the direction of the hoard of girls.

"Please, what are the chances that Kai would fall for one of those floozies?" snorted Nadia, crossing her arms as if to emphasize how much she wasn't worried about _that_ ever happening.

"But they think they actually stand a chance!"

"Let them have their delusions, Wolfy," Nyx laughed lightly. "If they find out you and he are an item we'll be drowning in hate mail and boos during the tournament."

"She's right. And same goes for you, Nyx," pointed out Sunny. "Kai isn't the only ones with fans. If they get wind of any of the boys being emotionally linked in any way to a female who isn't of blood relation... well, we'll be in the shit house, that's for sure."

"So no public displays of affection. Or, maybe connection? Just don't be all mushy, holding hands and stuff," Nadia suggested with a mild shrug as they showed their id-badges that had been delivered to the hotel that very morning to the man at the door. The guard let them in after looking over their badges with a critical eye, making sure no unauthorized guests snuck in.

"Heck, it might be best if we don't act like friends during the competition," the brunette sighed heavily. "It won't help us concentrate if we fraternize with the 'enemy'. It would also make people wonder if we're serious bladers, hanging around a world class and well known team such as The Blitzkrieg Boys."

"Yeah, but that might be taking it to far," the blond frowned openly. "I mean, you are _dating_ a Blitzkrieg Boy – there's nothing anyone can do about it. Sure, the fangirls might hate it, but it's a reality. Everything they feel towards the boys is based on their popularity and beyblading status."

"And what if we win in the end?" Nyx countered softly. "How many people will talk about how the boys must have let us win due to being our friends? Point out that they must be flawed, having been taken in by a bunch of girls, only to be unable to do their very best during the match against the evil creatures who flaunted themselves in order to gain victory?"

"You think they'll degrade the boys, making them seem like horny men?"

"Exactly."

"She does have a point," Nadia nodded solemnly. "A lot of people will question our victory, and even the boys' victory if they win a match against us. They could say they wooed us over, that we're weak little girls for having fallen under the spell of such well known men."

"I hate sexism. Really, we may have raging hormones, but come on!" moaned Wolfy, voice holding a hint of a growl. "If we win it'll be because we did our damnest and kicked everyone's butt along the way. There won't be any mushy chemistry that makes it so one side can't concentrate. If anything, it'll make us want victory even more! What better thing is there than to be able to brag about having beaten your other half in a world class tournament?"

"We all agree with you, Wolfy darling," Sunny assured the short one, ruffling her hair only to be growled at by the action. Laughing, she continued. "But life isn't that simple. Besides, absence makes the heart grow fonder, as we've seen between Nyx and Tala," she paused to watch the brunette fight back a blush, "so a week without much contact with Kai won't kill you."

"But I don't _want_ to go that long without bugging him!"

"Do it anyway. Think of it as... teasing him. Flirt from afar and make him wonder what the hell is going on. It's always fun to do that."

"... you do have a point. I can totally torment him from afar. Sunny, you evil genius, you're not allowed to leave ever again."

"... can I at least go to the bathroom? I really have to pee."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."


	23. Chapter 23

_A/N: Tournament rules have been changed, I say. Why? Because it's more fun for me this way._

**Chapter 23**

"Ok guys, and girls," D.J. Jazzman beamed, always full to bursting with energy. "This is how the tournament will play out..."

The teams who'd ssigned up for the tournament were sitting at each their own table, listening to the man give them the lowdown on how everything was to take place. Each table held a pitcher of water and four glasses, nothing more. It was too early in the morning to serve food and lunch wasn't for hours to come. He had assured them that after the rules and regulations were told and the tour of the stadium over with then they would eat and find out which teams would do battle in the first round of the tournament that afternoon.

Giro de Destino, also known as the Romano family, sat at the table next to the girls', looking quite bored as Jazzman continued his speech. It looked like they didn't really care about the rules, as they whispered secretively amongst themselves, eyeing the competition with nearly hidden glares.

The Barbershop Quarter (also known as Nyx, Sunny, Wolfy and Nadia) listened intently to what was being said while shooting glances over at the Italian family. They didn't trust them, knowing the history their bloodline held, and the fact that they weren't listening to anything that was being said. Not only was it impolite but it also made them dangerous – they probably weren't very worried about breaking any rules.

Half an hour later a break was called and everyone stood to stretch their legs and mingle. The girls stayed at their table to discuss things.

"I know they're family is evil, but what could they possibly do at a beyblading tournament?" Nadia muttered, stirring her ice water with a finger.

"Remember the world tournament when the guys were the Demolition Boys? They ended up stealing bitbeasts for Biovolt," Wolfy huffed lightly, tracing the ring of water her glass had left on the wooden surface of their table with a finger. "If Voltaire had harnessed the power of those bitbeasts he could have been just about unstoppable. It's lucky that Black Dranzer was destroyed or he'd probably still be lurking around, waiting for his next chance."

"He probably still is," sighed the brunette. "I bet he's just hiding out for the time being – the authorities were pretty hot on his tail at the end of that tournament, so at least we won't have to worry about him. It's enough to have to watch the Romano family without worrying about other things."

"So what do you think they're up to?" Sunny inquired, sipping her drink thoughtfully, eyeing the siblings who had gathered in a corner to watch the other teams at a better angle. "I doubt they're collecting bitbeasts – they aren't much into ruling the world."

"More of purging it," Nyx grumbled angrily. "From what I've gathered, during the holocaust they were in agreement with what Hitler was doing, only... they didn't think he was doing enough. People who didn't match up to a certain standard had to be taken down. What they might do... it'll be far worse than anything Voltaire could think of doing."

"What makes you think that?" Wolfy shot in defense. "He's an evil mastermind who doesn't mind genetically altering humans in order to achieve what needs to be done."

"And the Romano family has a history of killing off all those who are considered imperfect – even their own blood."

"... I take that back. They're more sadistic and coldblooded than Voltaire will ever be. Kai left them and still the bastard didn't dare experiment or harm his own grandson. But a family willing to kill their relatives to purge their bloodline of imperfections? Yikes."

"Exactly. Which is why they're really dangerous. They probably know the rules already, studied them extensively and figured out the loopholes they would have to jump through to get whatever it is they need to get done without breaking any of them along the way."

"Great. Why does it always seem like the bad guys are intelligent? In movies they're usually pretty stupid and predictable – real life should be more like that!"

"Wolfy..."

"Well it's true..."

...

After the tour of the stadium they were herded back into a smaller room with a large white board on one wall. "Ok, champs, this is how it's going to go. Your team names are written each on a slip of paper and have all been placed in this box here," Jazzman motioned to a large white box. "I'll be drawing two slips of paper, and whatever team names are on those slips will be battling in the first round."

"What about the second round?" Ricardo of Giro de Destino asked, voice clipped and uninterested.

"A draw will be done with the winning teams from the first round. That means, no matter which order your battles are in, you won't know who you're battling against in the next round."

"What kind of set up is that?" a member from another opposing team complained. "You can't strategize that way!"

"That's the point. This way your beybattles will be a lot harder. You won't learn about which team you'll be battling until just before the matches start. In order to win you'll have to be doing your very best and prove to the world that your championship material!"

Murmuring issued from this statement as D.J. Jazzman retrieved the box and shook it with much vigour.

"You know, I just noticed the Bladebreakers aren't here..." Sunny suddenly pointed out, eyes skimming over the crowd.

"Well, when Kai left them they were one short – then some kid called Daichi appeared," Wolfy explained with a shrug. "Rei went back to his village shortly afterwards, and Daichi decided to train more before taking on Tyson again, or something like that."

"In other words, they've disbanded?"

"I suppose so. Or maybe moved on. They were an odd bunch to begin with."

"That's true, but it would be more fun if another world class team were here to battle against," Nadia grinned at the thought. "It would make things a lot harder, but also a lot more fun. Could you imagine us winning against everyone? Without the Bladebreakers here... well, I can't consider us world champions without beating the current world champions – the Bladebreakers."

"Ok! First teams to battle are...!"

And so it went, team after team being matched up against one another until all thirty two teams were matched against one another. "Since we have sixteen battles ahead of us, today eight randomly chosen match-ups will do battle, the rest of you have until tomorrow! Best of luck!"

"So he intends to keep us guessing? I do not want to stay if we are not going to do battle, and now we have to since no-one knows when they will be put up to the dish!" whined Mirabella, voice saucy. "What a drag."

"Shut up," her eldest brother snapped back. "This way we can study the other teams."

Sulking, she looked away, eyes finding the girls, causing a smirk to grow on her lips. "Looky-looky. It is _The Babershop Quartet_. What type of name is that, girls?"

"We could ask the same about yours," Wolfy sighed, already tired of this conversation. From their first meeting she hadn't liked the Romanos, and the few days between that meeting hadn't improved the feeling.

"Ha, you are a funny American."

"I'm not an American."

"Oh?" she blinked, startled. "And yet you speak like one."

"She's already judged us by where we might be from," the short one told her friends, eyes wide. "And I thought we were in a time where such prejudices didn't exist."

"Prejudice? Us? Please," Alejandro laughed loudly. "We just know who deserves to be brought to the top."

"Obviously not us, I take it?"

"Precisely. You are not worthy of the title of world champions!"

"And you are?"

"Of course. We, the Romano family, have trained since we were born for such an honour," Carlos sneered at them. "You have not spent such time training and perfecting the skills. You are all unworthy."

"That's your opinion – but a lot of the things that happen in this world are done by people like us," Sunny informed the siblings with a wag of a finger. "To think that those with pedigree are better than the common folk is beyond ignorant. History proves this, what with mutiny riddled in every country's past. We've not only overthrown those in power, but we've stepped up to the plate and made the world better at the same time."

"Tch, you are such fools, believing such things," Ricardo scoffed, an expression of disdain on his face.

"I feel insulted," Nadia said to Nyx, who only shrugged in response.

"Let them sit on their high horse; it'll be more fun for us to knock them down if they do."

"You dream dreams that you cannot accomplish," Carlos informed them with a wave of his hand. "And such things bore me. Come, brothers and sister. We have things to discuss before our first match."

"Who are the guys battling?" Nadia asked once the siblings had disappeared from view around the corner.

"Uhm, some team from South American, I think," Wolfy mussed more to herself than to answer the question. "Do any of you know anything about Les Misérables?"

"Only that they should have chosen a more upbeat name than one that translates into 'The Miserables'."

"I second that, Nadia," Sunny nodded. "Our name may be random, but at least it's nothing depressing."

"Do you think they'll be miserable bladers?" Wolfy wondered aloud.

"I doubt it. Remember? We all had to show our skills just to enter the tournament."

"Yeah, through video. You know how much editing some people would do?"

"True, but people who can't blade wouldn't pay the entrance fee just to compete and lose in the first round."

"But some people think they're good and are actually really, _really_ bad," Nyx pointed out in an off handed manner as she tried to catch a glimpse of Tala through the throng of other competitors. Had he already left the room?

"Yeah... but... still!"

"Your comebacks and explanations are always up there with the Gods," smiled the blond as she entwined her arm with Nyx's. "Calm down, you'll see him later at the hotel."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Come on, we only have ten minutes before they announce who battles first. Let's go get changed and warm ourselves up a bit before the matches begin," proposed Nadia as she made her way towards the door. "Since we won't have time in between to get ready."

"Oh, that's right. He did say something about there being no breaks in between matches – they're really keeping us on our toes with this tournament, aren't they?" Sunny commented as she and the others followed their friend into the hall and down towards their locker room. "And yet I have a feeling this is going to be one hell of a tournament." They all grinned at this, eager for it to begin.


	24. Chapter 24

_A/N: Me + Describing Bey-battles = FAIL._

**Chapter 24**

The Blitzkrieg Boys were in the first match up, which they won with some effort. Giro de Destino were in the second match, where they showed the world how ruthless they were, destroying their opponents' blades without a care. The bits and pieces of the shattered blades were hastily cleaned up after their match, giving the others that were battling afterwards a clean dish.

Unfortunately for the girls, they were not battling that day, something they only found out as the teams for the final battle of the evening were announced; not that they really minded – they got to watch the boys' match and study the Romano's blading style, not to mention checking out the other teams who faced off against one another. So far they knew as much as they could about the four winners without doing outside research.

Not bad for a day's work, if the girls did say so themselves – which they did.

That night they ordered room service so they could dine with the boys in privacy – it seemed as though some of the more 'serious' fans had learned where The Blitzkrieg Boys were staying and were staking out the place, sneaking in when the chance arose and being a general all around nuisance. So the boys stayed in either their room or visited one of the girls' rooms.

"What did you guys think of the tournament so far?" Tala inquired before taking a bite of his spaghetti. He was in Italy and from what he understood spaghetti was an Italian dish, so the whole while in Rome thing had been changed to 'while in Italy eat Italian food'. Lame? Perhaps, but it was good spaghetti.

"Looks like fun. Hard, scary... but fun," was Nyx's honest reply. "And nerve raking; very nerve raking. Why did they have to change how things are done during _this_ tournament? Why not the _next_ one? Or the one after that? How about _never_!"

"They have to spice things up once and a while," shrugged Spencer as he bit into his massive sandwich. Chewing it thoroughly, he swallowed before continuing. "Besides, it makes it more fun. The adrenaline rush you get from not knowing who your next opponent is or when your next battle will be is... so invigorating."

"Leave it to a guy to think of it that way," Wolfy snorted, amused. "Just like how you enjoy going out with a _bang_; the more explosions and noise, the better, right?"

"How is it fun otherwise?" chuckled Bryan.

"I can think of about a billion and one things, but we won't go there."

"Think you're ready for your match tomorrow?" Tala interjected before the back and forth-ing could get any worse between the two.

"As we'll ever be," sighed Sunny as she finished up her meal and placed her dish back on the cart. "_Les Misérables_ – still the worse team name ever – is a well known French blading team, or so wikipedia has informed us. Their stats and whatnot weren't posted anywhere, nor was there any information other than that available. I guess they make sure their competition doesn't know much about them beforehand – which I don't really blame them."

"We're lucky – since we're considered a _new_ team, never before having fought in any kind of tournament, there's no information about us anywhere. To all the other teams we're a mystery – which will change tomorrow after our first match..." Nadia trailed off thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. "Oh well. We just can't show off all our special moves too early on – gotta save them for the later battles."

"You guys are pretty cocky, saying you'll win even when this _is_ your first tournament," Bryan pointed out with a sneer. "We've battled against you and you're _good_, but who knows if your championship material or not. You could freak out, fall flat on your face or eve-"

"Leave it alone," ordered the blue haired one from his spot on the bed next to Wolfy. He slowly looked up, eyes locking on to the one with violet hair, a glimmer of an unknown emotion flickering across them. "They made it into the tournament, so they belong here as much as we do. Besides, we all got to the final round of our first tournaments."

"Oh, Kai has a good point," the short one squealed happily. "You were _all_ noobs and got to the final round! We've been training against the best and you think we'll fail? Ha. What a wonderful person _you_ are, Bryan."

"Hey!" he cried, glaring angrily in Kai's direction as it was his fault that the girls now knew about that. "We've been trained since we were young – you haven't. That right there is a _big_ difference!"

"Yes, and Tyson and Max, two world champions who were crowned not _once_, but _twice_, also trained their entire life. Right. I forgot about _that_."

"You know what, I give up. Not matter what it is, you always need the last word!"

"It's a woman thing," Spencer informed him as he licked his fingers clean before wiping them dry on his napkin. "You make it sound like it's a new thing when it's been happening since before we were even born."

"I don't know if I should be insulted or not..."

"Don't worry, Wolfy, neither do we," Nadia informed her friend with a small sigh. "It's either an extremely sexist comment or the truth – but either way, you do always seem to need to say the last word."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do," Sunny joined in.

"Uh, no."

"I concur with Nadia and Sunny on this one."

"Well you're all wrong. I do not!"

"See? She's proving our point," Nyx pointed out with a laugh. The others joined in as Wolfy crossed her arms, sulking silently as Kai could only shake his head at their behaviour.

...

Their battle turned out to be the very last one, much to their disappointment. By the time it was their turn their thrumming nerves were shot, palms sweaty and fingers jittery with both anticipation and fear. Their first big match was upon them and it felt as though it was happening much too soon.

Stepping out into the arena and hearing the cheering crowd nearly blew them away. Supporters, fans, people cheering for whichever side (it was hard to tell as they all cheered at the same time)... they could scarcely hear Jazzman announcing their team, let alone their opponent's over the din of the crowd.

It was only once they overcame their sudden bout of fear did they notice their opponents. They were each dressed like musketeers, right down to their swords, which looked to be remodelled to act as their launchers.

"I wonder which one is suppose to be d'Artagnan..," Nadia mussed loud enough so only her teammates could hear her as they sat down on their team bench, waiting for the crowd to calm down enough for the Jazzman to start the first round.

"I'm more interested in Aramis – he was my favourite," grinned the blond as her gaze roved over their opponents' costumes, trying to figure out which one was which.

"If you're all done fan-girling over our opponents, maybe we should decide who'll be battling," pointed out the short one in a matter-of-fact tone. "I still think we should have discussed this last night."

"But where's the fun in that? Having to face the unknown head on, with only your wits... now that's a good life!"

"Leave it to you, Sunny, to think of it that way."

"Well, since you don't like the unknown, maybe you shouldn't fight during this match?" was the countered retort. "That way if we manage a tie you can break it."

"Fine by me. But that means I will be fighting in the next round."

"If we win," Nyx added.

"Oh, you will win. Because I have to get my turn in. If you lose and we get eliminated I won't let you live it down. Ever."

"If that's not a good enough reason to kick butt then I don't know what is!" Nadia cheered, waving to some of the people in the crowd as D.J. Jazzman cleared his throat.

"Ladies, gentleman, beyblade fans! Welcome to the final match of the first round!" He had to pause as people roared with anticipation. They wanted the match to start soon and last forever. "The first round battle will be..." he waited a moment as the participants stood and made their way to the dish. "Sunny! From _The Barbershop Quartet_! And the challenger from _Les Misérables _is none other than Philippe!"

More cheering could be heard as both bladers took out their launchers and readied to begin battling.

Are you ready, Pundolar? Sunny silently asked her bitbeast, who stood just on the edge of her consciousness.

_Born ready,_ was the frisky answer as the majestic beast shook her head, golden mane rippling in an unseen breeze. _This is your battle so do us – all of us – justice._

"Wouldn't have it any other way," she smirked, barely listening as Jazzman gave the countdown.

"3! 2! 1! LET IT RIP!"

Her muscles relaxed, mind calming so there were no idle thoughts as each number was shouted into the microphone. By the time the countdown finished she was ready – nothing was going to stop her from winning.

A swift flick of her wrist accompanied by the backwards pull of her arm sent her white and gold blade flying into the dish at an unknown speed, meeting her opponent's without any hesitation or mercy.

Sparks flew as they circled the dish, locked in a seemingly never ending battle. Back and forth, clashing against one another without cease, the battle raged on as the crowd cheered their favoured blader on, eager for one to be victorious while wishing with all their heart that the battle would last for ever and ever.

But the battle did end with Sunny reigning as the victor. Waving to the ecstatic crowd, she then shook hands with her opponent and returned to her team's bench.

The next two battles ended in much the same way with both Nadia and Nyx taking a victory home with them. Each battle was more intense than the next as the girls were pushed to do their very best against their opponent. Skill, strength... those who made it to the tournament had both, as well as so much more.

First round finally over, _The Barbershop Quartet_ knew each round after this one would test their abilities, trying to break them in two along the way. But they were ready. The second round would begin tomorrow and there was nothing that would stop them from conquering the competition – at least that's what they believed.


	25. Chapter 25

_A/N: Some of you disagreed with my beybattle describing ability. Just wait until the next couple of chapters where I have to describe the battles in more detail. Also... FOUR CHAPTERS LEFT until the fic is complete! Are you as excited as I am? Hope so!_

**Chapter 25**

The second round of the tournament was suppose to start early the next day, however it was postponed due to a terrible and strange circumstance.

"What do you mean it's postponed?" Wolfy nearly shouted through the bathroom door moments before jerking it open, hair still wrapped in a towel. "How can it be postponed?"

"Trust me, it's a good reason," Sunny assured the girl, who was dripping water on the carpet. "Go dry off. We'll tell you when the boys get in."

"Can I get a clue?" Nadia inquired from her spot on the bed as she brushed out her hair before tying it back.

"No. We want to wait until everyone's here. Repeating this news once is unpleasant enough."

"Damn. When are the boys suppose to get here?"

"We talked to them before coming here, and are now most likely curious as hell, so soon enough."

"They better hurry it up!" came Wolfy's muffled voice from behind the bathroom door.

The sound of the hairdryer being turned on full blast met their ears a second later, causing eyes to be rolled. By the time she finished drying her hair the boys would definitely be over and waiting on _her_, not the other way around.

And they were correct in their assumption as everyone sat around the room, waiting for Wolfy to finish using the hairdryer. When she finally did step out of the bathroom she was met with seven pairs of eyes. "What?"

"And you were worried they wouldn't get here before you finished," Nyx chuckled.

"We've been waiting about ten minutes for _you_," Bryan informed her with a smirk if his own. "You're such a hypocrite."

"Takes one to know one," she shot back without any hesitation as she crossed the room and settled herself in between Kai and Tala, amber eyes finding Sunny without any trouble. "So spill. Why are they postponing the second round?"

"You know the team that fought on the first day called 'Destructo'?"

"The one with the big guys?" Nadia frowned, making an invisible giant with help from her hands. "African-Americans, yea big, bald, colourful clothes, faces that looked mad of stone and could have scared Hitler into peeing his pants?"

"Yeah, them."

"Weren't they the ones who fought against the Romano family?" Spencer pointed out as he scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"You betcha," Nyx nodded solemnly. "Well, you remember the three who fought and lost?"

"Ah, yeah. The scariest one kinda just sat on the bench and watched. I remember his eyes creeping me out... The other three weren't as scary. Why?" Wolfy inquired, frown deepening on her brow.

"Well the 'scariest one' woke up this morning, I guess, and found his three teammates dead."

"You're joking," Kai accused Nyx and Sunny with a deadpan expression. "Seriously?"

"After the battle, you saw how sick they looked, right?" continued the blond, ignoring Kai's question and disbelieving expression.

"Yeah. I figured they were either scared of what their leader was gonna do to them, or were ashamed from losing to a bunch of prissy, stuck up snobs," Tala shrugged.

"Not the case," his girlfriend informed him. "We were scared this would happen."

"What would happen?"

"This – the deaths. I would put money on the next blader to lose to one of them being dead within two days, but I don't wager on lives."

"You seriously think they did that?" blinked the violet haired one, unbelieving.

"They believe in ridding the world of those who are unworthy," Nyx replied, looking over at Wolfy. "You remember what they said on the first day of the tournament, right?"

"You mean how we're _unworthy_ of this tournament and probably life in general?"

"Yeah, that. Their family history is riddled with suspicious murders involving those who could be classified as 'unfit' or 'unworthy', by either society or those of a higher status – take your pick. My bet is that those who lose to them are classified as unworthy."

"So how do they kill them? Teams usually share rooms and if big scarey dude didn't see or hear them, then how'd they do it?" asked Bryan.

"They didn't do anything physical, at least as far as we know," Sunny explained as she rubbed her temple. "I'm betting their bitbeasts had something to do with it. Remember, in your first world tournament, how your bitbeasts were modified to steal other people's bitbeasts?"

The Blitzkrieg Boys nodded as one.

"Well I'm betting their bitbeasts were also modified, but to a more... extreme extent."

"Seriously?" laughed the one with violet hair. "You actually think that a bitbeast can do... whatever it is that it did to them and two days later, boom, dead."

"Hey, your bitbeast can physically cut bladers during battle, right? Why not take it to another level and make it so it can do _more_?"

"But that's different! Falborg can cut people to shreds, resulting in death, but what are they doing that takes so long for them to die? They seemed fine enough afterwards, and the day after that."

"I'm thinking it's more than that," said Nyx. "From what we heard – they're staying on the floor above us so Sunny and I checked it out when we heard commotion in the room above ours – there doesn't seem to be any physical trauma to the bodies. The police sounded puzzled and the general hum of conversation was filled with confusion. They're doing something to their opponents, during the battle, but it's not physical."

"So, what, are they slowly frying their brain? Poisoning them?"

"Bryan, can the smart-ass attitude – they're being serious," Wolfy growled deep in her throat as though threatening him to say one more sarcastic comment.

He raised his hands, silently letting them know he wouldn't say another word – for now.

"We don't know what they're doing, so if you battle them in the next round, be very careful, alright?" Nyx pleaded, her eyes resting more so on Tala than anyone else. "If you do lose, make sure any changes, any at all, whether mental, physical, emotional – shut it, Bryan – anything at all, let us know? We need to figure out what's going on, and soon. Or everyone they battle and win against is dead."

"We'll make sure to keep you informed," Spencer agreed with a nod.

"Just one question," said Bryan, all eyes turning to him as he spoke. "Why do you guys have to be the ones in charge of whatever is happening? Why do you have to be the ones to fix it? To save everyone, or whatever? We're just as capable as you are, if not more."

"Because I've studied this family extensively," Nyx replied, eyes locked on his without blinking. "So has Sunny. This is what we do; every year we've travelled, studying families, people, things... It's what we're good at. If anything, we're more capable of this than you'll ever be because we know more than you do. It's not about experience, it's about knowledge."

"So teach us what you know let us take care of it for you."

"We're perfectly capable of handling this on our own, thank you," Sunny grinned, a hint of a dark mood on the edges of her mouth.

Bryan's face took on a sour expression. "It's not a personal thing, y'know."

"Then what is it?" she interrupted, chin lifted, eyes blazing. "We're a group of teenage girls, never before having bladed professionally, so you don't even know how good we really are, and you want to protect us as though we're children? We're big girls with skills – don't underestimate us. Sexist pig."

"This has nothing to do with you being girls, or first time tournament bladers," he shot back, eyes blazing just as hot as Sunny's.

"Then why are you being a sexist, over protective pig?"

"It's none of your business!"

"Is he always this stupid?" she asked her female friends, who all shrugged and nodded.

"Augh. Seriously? You'll all just turn on me just like that?"

"Well it's true. You seem to act like you've got a stick shoved up your ass, especially since we got to Italy," Wolfy informed him with yet another shrug, careful not to meet his gaze.

"I am not that much of a jackass!"

"Then why so many sexist remarks? Protecting us? Fighting our battles? What's the deal?" scoffed Sunny.

"I can't just... TELL you!"

"Why not?"

"Because I can't!"

She gave him a bland look at his less than appreciated answer. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Well I'm sorry I can't think straight right now!"

"Why not?"

"Because you're distracting me!"

"How in hell am _I distracting you_?"

"Because you're totally hot, alright! There, I said it. Now leave me the hell alone."

Complete silence followed his outburst as Sunny could only blink in surprise.

"Did he just confess to having a crush on Sunny?" Wolfy whispered to Tala, who nodded silently in response, still shocked.

"Alright, let's just... pretend that conversation never happened," Nyx suddenly pipped up, noticing the horrible shade of red that was creeping up Bryan's face, wanting to save him from his own embarrassment. "And let's get back to the important topic at hand: the Romano family and whatever the hell they're doing to people."

"Why don't we just agree to share any information we acquire?" Nadia offered, arms held out invitingly. "That way no matter which of us faces them first we'll be ready. At least, as we'll ever be."

They weren't quite certain if it was fortunate or not that the second round passed without either team blading against Giro de Destino, but it did give them another chance to study their opponent's blading technics, which in turn would hopefully help them for when the time came.

If the time came.

...

Since both The Barbershop Quartet and The Blitzkrieg Boys were victorious in their second round battles they made it to the third and then fourth round.

By that time the bladers defeated by the Romano family during the second round had been found, deceased. The fourth round was postponed until the next day as the police were called in to question all the teams who had and were still participating in the tournament, along with fans, haters and many of the spectators.

"This is stupid," Wolfy complained from her spot on the bed where she'd laid out like a starfish, taking as much room as was possible. "Seriously – no sign of foul play and they're _still_ holding an investigation? Just go away so we can fix it. They won't arrest the Romano family because there won't be any evidence, so this is just pointless."

"You're just aggravated that they postponed the tournament," Nadia pointed out, mind elsewhere as she gazed at the playing cards in her hand, wondering what her best move would be in order to be victorious over Sunny.

"Well, yeah. It's dull, sitting around here all day. At least the first time we could go out and do stuff – but with an investigation underway we're stuck under hotel arrest."

"Just wait until tomorrow when the team from round 3 is found dead," muttered Sunny as she laid out her hand. "Three of a kind, Jack high."

"Dammit," Nadia swore, throwing down her cards. "I'm done. If I lose any more of my pretzels to you I'll go hungry."

"That's fine by me," the blond giggled gleefully as she scooped up her winnings and began nibbling on one. "Just think, next round, if we're not matched up against the boys, one of us will be fighting them."

"And, if one of us _is_ fighting them and loses, the next round will be postponed due to the bladers from round 3 being found dead. It seems it's between a day and a half and two days before they conk out, so it doesn't give us, or the boys, much time to beat them and save the other, so to speak," Nyx pointed out from behind her laptop where she was composing an email to their mother, updating her on the situation.

"Just think, they're already talking about cancelling the tournament," Nadia pointed out halfheartedly as she shuffled the deck without much gusto before storing the cards away in their box. "If they do hold the next round and one of us loses, round 3 bladers are found dead and the tournament is cancelled... well, ... we'll be screwed."

"I don't think they'll be that stupid," Wolfy informed them as she rolled over onto her stomach to get a better view of her friends. "This _is_ a world class tournament, with everyone, from everywhere, eagerly watching. Not only would they have to contend with us bladers feeling gipped at having our chance at a title taken away, but they'd also have to deal with angry television stations who want good ratings, mobs of scary angry fans and just a general mountain of complaints, threats and paperwork. Nah, they won't cancel the tournament – they may be human, with morals and whatever, but their greed will win every time."

"Gee, you make the world sound like such a wonderful place to live," frowned the blond as she popped a pretzel in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "But you do have a point," she added after swallowing. "Chances are, as much as they'll huff and puff about stopping the tournament, it'll only be hot air that comes out."

"Good," nodded Nyx as she closed the lid of the laptop. "Speaking of hot air, the police should be done interrogating the boys soon enough. Why don't we head down to the dinning room and get some food before they drag us in for questioning?"

"I still say the police here are idiots," grumbled the short one as she rolled off the bed and onto her feet. "Really, we never came into contact with the teams who lost, and they think _we_ had something to do with it? Common thread here is the damned Romanos – go bother them."

"Wolfy, as much as we agree, they have to do something to satisfy the public, and the Romanos are a very powerful family here. They can't just arrest their children and get away without being beaten to a pulp, lose their jobs and expect to ever be hired by anyone, anywhere, ever again."

"Shit man, seriously? What a bastard family."

"Tell me about it..."

"But so far we're proving them wrong," Nadia suddenly informed them, face beaming with pride. "We made it to the semi-finals!"


	26. Chapter 26

_A/N: I totally misquoted myself in my last author's note. It was four chapters INCLUDING that one (because it was placed above the chapter it was like there were four chapters left for you to read). So, to clarify, this fic is **28** chapters long. Another thing, in this chapter you get to see how I can't describe beybattles to save my life. ENJOY!_

**Chapter 26**

The semi-finals...

It was hard to believe they'd made it this far – but they had and the cheering crowd let them know it wasn't a dream.

The sounds of the fans' shouting, screaming, singing... it was so deafening it was almost painful on the ears, but they wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world.

They were the first to battle in this round, and their opponents were from South America. Their skin was a golden brown, almost the colour of a Native American, with hair like the night sky. Unlike many teams who had competed in the tournament they didn't wear matching uniforms, or costumes to show their heritage or to set themselves apart from the crowd. Instead they dressed as casually as they could, looking comfortable in what they wore, even in such a public light.

Even the girls had come together with a type of style similarity to show they were a team. Each of them work dark shorts (or pants that stopped just below the knee) with a different colour shirt, each in a similar style to one another's. They were a team and felt like they should at least look the part.

Jazzman hadn't bothered trying to calm the screaming crowd as the two teams took a seat on their bench found on either side of the covered beydish. It felt like an eternity before the crowd calmed enough that Jazzman's amplified voice could be heard above the roar. "Are you guys ready for **the first semi-final battle**!"

More cheering, some sounding quite hysterical in origin, tore through the air, nearly bursting the bladers' eardrums. Again, it took what felt like forever until the crowd calmed enough for the exuberant referee's voice to be heard.

"Aw-right! Then let's get to it! Bladers! Are you ready!"

"Com on, you can do it, Nadia!" her teammates urged as she took her place on their side of the dish, her blade already attached to her launcher.

Her opponent was tall, possibly somewhere close to seven feet in height, and was as prepared as she, dark eyes never leaving her face. They both nodded to Jazzman, signalling that they were ready to go.

"Excellent! Now let's see what dish you will be battling it out in...!" The dish uncovered slowly, raising into position at a snail's pace as the crowd gasped and cheered at the terrain they were to battle on. "This dish is called Zero Gravity! There's next to no friction – almost like blading on a sheet of ice. Remember to watch your blades or they might just shoot out of there! Bladers! Get set!"

Both stood ready, fingers clamped in a vice like grip on their rip cord, eyes never leaving their opponent.

"3! 2! 1! LET IIIT RIIIPPP!"

Nadia went deaf to the crowd as all her focus was on her blade as it ripped from her launcher, hitting the dish at a precarious angle before nearly shooting right back out due to the slick surface. Calm down, she told herself as she tried to get her blade to steady.

Eyes flicking over to her opponent's blade, she saw that he was having the same traction issue she was suffering from, which in turn relaxed the stirring butterflies trapped in her gut. You can do this, she told herself, exhaling slowly, allowing her muscles to relax as much as she could manage. It's just another battle...

She blinked once and found her blade being barrelled into by her opponents as both skidded over the surface of the dish. Her mind was back on the task at hand, even as her muscles bunched into tight knots, butterflies angrily fighting for the freedom they would never get.

"No!" she sputtered as her blade nipped the edge of the dish before sliding back down to the centre, moments before her opponent struck again, using the moment of his own skid to add power to his attack. "Oh," she blinked, finally understanding his strategy. It was all in the physics. "Of course! Trignar, let's go!"

Her blade glowed like a coal in the middle of a fire as her bitbeast readied itself to attack. "Just wait for it... wait for it..." she muttered to herself, watching the other blade zoom around the dish.

The second she saw it move in for an attack she sent her blade away, using the momentum gathered from sliding up and down the walls of the dish to speed her blade. A blazing trail was left in it's wake as it circled the dish time after time, all the while gaining speed. "Alright Trignar! Go! Heat Wave!"

Even those from the back row could see the eery waves of heat that rose from the now steaming dish. The surface began to bubble dangerously as her blade ripped through the terrain, shredding any semi-solid material in it's way as she moved in for an attack. "Get him!"

"Dodge!" Her opponent's blade suddenly disappeared, causing her to step back and blink, heat from her attack dying down at an alarming rate.

"Where did you go?" she asked herself as her eyes raked the dish in search of the missing blade.

"Attack!"

From above his blade fell, smashing into hers with such force her attack ring cracked dangerously. But the battle was already over as his blade caught in the cooling sides of the dish, where the surface hadn't quite solidified once more, sticking angrily to anything that dared touch it.

"An unexpected win for Nadia of The Barbershop Quartet!" Jazzman shouted in his microphone as the crowd cheered. "But it also looks like the dish will have to be replaced before the next round. Lucky for us, we always have a back-up ready for such occasions! Everyone, give it up for the victor of the first match!"

Joining her teammates at their bench, Nadia let out a heavy sigh. "What dumb luck that was."

"If I had battled first it would have been a cinch!" Wolfy grumbled, mostly to herself. "Slick surfaces are a breeze for me – I use to only train on ice!"

"Yes, well, now that the dish has changed, do you still want to go second?" Sunny inquired, a smile tugging at her lips from the short one's pouting face.

"Of course. Bring it on!" Jumping to her feet, Wolfy rushed up to the dish where her opponent was already waiting.

The dish revealed itself in much the same way as the first, showing a miniature forest.

"Bladers, get ready!" They readied themselves and nodded to Jazzman. "Awww-right! Here we go! 3! 2! 1! LEEEEEET IT RIP!"

Seconds later both blades were tearing through the forest, dodging some trees while destroying others. Each time their blade bit into the bark it rattled due to the impact – it would be best if they didn't try to destroy the forest, but not hitting the obstacles wasn't an option. Even the most skilled bladers would have found the distance between each object too narrow to avoid everything.

"Let's go Yami!" Wolfy cheered, eyes blazing with passion as she watched the two blades collide with a resounding _bang_. Sparks flew as they circled one another, locked in combat, neither giving any ground to the other.

"Go! Attack!" her opponent shouted, voice carrying over the thundering crowd.

His blade moved in for the attack, shredding trees in the process. Splinters flew every which way, carried by the whirlwind of his blade. They tore at Wolfy, trying to wear her down, to barrel over her blade, but she held strong, though only barely.

"Yami, time to cool this hot head down! Frozen Flame!"

Her blade shimmered like ice before a blast of cold air whipped out of it's rings, creating a funnel that reached for the ceiling.

As Nadia's blade had heated the room to dangerous temperatures, Wolfy's was cooling it off at an alarming rate as people's breath began to fog before their eyes, bodies shivering from the sudden drop. Frost began to form on any surface holding the slightest bit of moisture, growing in spiderweb crystals faster than one could blink.

The trees in the dish froze over soon after, leaving them as brittle as glass. "I'll show you how it's done!" she challenged her opponent, fist pumping the air. "Let's go! Attack, Yami; attack!"

Her blade zoomed through trees, shattering them with ease, bringing along with her the broken pieces and frigid temperatures.

"I won't lose to you," her opponent snarled dangerously, swinging his blade in from the side to attack.

They clashed for a split second, the force from both blades causing a shock wave to ripple through the entire stadium. Seconds later both blades sailed from the dish, landing feet away from where the bladers stood, each baffled as to how they could possibly lose so easily (or so it felt).

"You did great, Wolfy," her teammates assured the short one, who took a seat on their bench with a huff, crossing her arms stubbornly as she did so.

"I can't believe I lost like that!"

"Hey, it was a close call, but they're good. Those guys won all their battles by sneak attacks, hitting you at just the right moment," Nyx explained as she knelt next to her friend, eyes wide with honesty. "This is the semi-final round – anything can happen! At least you didn't lose. A tie is worth more than a loss."

"I'm up," Sunny grinned widely, skipping away from the sullen Wolfy, who ended up sighing, her shoulders slumping from the action.

"I know. But, gah! Why did I have to _not_ win!"

"Because you're saving your best moves for the final round," Nadia grinned wolfishly. "Right? We'll be up against either the boys or the Romanos – think of how amazing it'll feel to really put all your power and skill into the battle!"

"But I did do that!"

"You didn't summon Yami."

"But he doesn't have a bitbeast – of course I didn't summon Yam-... oh. I get it."

"Good girl. Now let's watch Sunny."

The blond in question let her blade loose into the nearly shredded dish, dodging the first attack from her opponent by a mere centimetre before racing away around the rim. She knew to expect surprise attacks, that their specialty was to hit once and hit _hard_. Maybe she could wear him down?

No, she told herself, barely avoiding another tornado of attacks as she let her blade zoom across the dish, zigzagging everywhere in the hope of staying unpredictable. But her opponent seemed to be able to sense her actions, and every time she zigged, he zigged right along with her, keeping close on her tail the entire time.

"I can't shake him," she told herself through gritted teeth. "Fine." Raising her voice, she called out to her bitbeast. "Pundolar! Solunris, and hurry!"

From the looks of it, her blade seemed to begin gathering light. Arcs and sparkles of light seemed to be drawn to the spinning blade, soaking into it with ease until it seemed to be full to bursting. Once it could contain no more, Pundolar released the stored light in a blinding flash.

Everyone in the stadium shielded their eyes from the piercing light, trying to squirm away from the pain it caused to their retinas.

The silence that was created by the flash was only broke seconds later by Sunny, who shouted, "Now we ATTACK!" The next thing everyone knew, as the light began to recede into the blond's blade was the clash of battle as both blades struck together, one being sent flying out of the dish and into the wall, where it embedded itself with seeming ease.

"Whoa! And the winners who will be going to the final round ... The Barbershop Quartet!"

The girls were very pleased with this news as they cheered alongside the crowd, waving like idiots in the general direction in which The Blitzkrieg Boys could be found, proud of their accomplishment.

There was only one problem.

The next battle was a dangerous one, and it had the boys' life on the line, or so it seemed.

They were to battle the Romanos and there was nothing the girls could do to stop it from happening, or even help them to win. If anyone didn't know better they would think the girls were fighting in the next battle, what with their nerves nearly screeching with worry.

But they weren't. As much as they wished it were them fighting the siblings they weren't. If the boys lost there would be no choice in the matter – they would _have_ to win the tournament.

Or risk losing their closest friends.


	27. Chapter 27

_A/N: The boys' battle is here! Dun, dun, dun. And for your reading pleasure, the final two chapters will be a little longer than normal._

**Chapter 27**

They didn't get to see the girls before their battle, which began a mere half hour after theirs had ended. Maybe it was for the best – this way they wouldn't see the worry in the girls' eyes or feel any more anxious for this battle to be over.

Less pressure. At least, that's what Tala figured.

Since none of them knew for sure if the Romanos could do whatever it was they were doing to the bladers if the battle ended in a tie, the boys decided that it would be safest if they won all three matches – all three matches in the semi-final round.

How hard could it be, right? ... Right.

Piece of cake.

The redhead groaned to himself, running a hand through his hair as they waited to be called out into the ring. His nerves were shot, his stomach felt nauseous... it was the first time he had the jitters before a big match, and the sensations were going to drive him completely insane.

"Just relax," Kai muttered to him as he slid up beside him friend, arms folded over his chest, the picture of calm and in control. "This is like any other battle. We will win."

"Any other battle my ass," he grumbled in return. "Our lives are on the line here."

"And this is different from the abbey... how?"

That sentence silenced the one with red hair as he lowered his hand and looked towards the door they would pass through. Yes, Kai was right. They'd been in worse situations before, so why was this one bothering him so much? Could it possibly be because he had refused to be the person he'd been trained and raised to be?

Closing his blue eyes, he allowed his muscles to relax, mind following suit until there was nothing to think about – until he could turn everything off and feel nothing. It was a trick the abbey had taught him; one he wished never to have to use ever again... but desperate times called for desperate measures. Giro de Destino wouldn't be holding back, so neither should he – even if that meant allowing some part of the madness to leak free. Only enough to keep him calm, to give him the strength and viciousness he would need to reign victorious, but even that could be dangerous.

It felt almost like a dam that had sprung a leak. If he allowed it to trickle long enough all his hard work may very well be washed away before his eyes.

What would Nyx think of that?

But that thought barely registered as he opened his eyes again, now at ease with no anxiety. He was completely calm and ready for the big battle. A dangerous smile tugged at his lips at the thought of battle, his eyes narrowing just a little.

Kai knew that look and couldn't help the small pinch in his stomach area. Tala was taking a risk, but it had to be done, and he knew that. It was hard, though, to watch your closest friend dive into a pool of inhuman emotions created by his very own grandfather. The guilt from that thought was hastily pushed aside by more pressing ones.

The redhead would have to battle first – the longer he stayed in that state the more dangerous it would be to his sanity, the first world tournament they participated in still a fresh memory.

Just then their cue arrived to leave the locker room and head into the ring, where they were greeted by the roar of the crowd. The fans were eager for another epic battle and seemed to be able to smell one on the horizon, causing more screaming, shouting and banner waving than was necessary.

Having gotten use to this, the boys ignored the crowd and took their place on their respective bench, waiting for the first round to start.

When it was called, Tala stood and walked over to the covered dish, face showing only the slightest hint of emotion – an emotion that had no real defined name, but seemed to radiate waves of a thirst to prove his power, to show the world that _he_ was king and no-one else.

His opponent turned out to be the youngest Romano, Ricardo. Lost in his own mind, Tala barely registered Jazzman as he introduced the bladers and asked if they were ready. The countdown that followed was a distant noise as he readied to do battle, trying hard not to lose his grip on the growing trickle escaping his mental dam.

He was barely aware of letting his blade fly, or even what kind of dish they were battling in until the sound of blades clashing brought him back to the surface.

The dish looked like a wonky amusement park for blades. Roads soared up and circled around, twisting and turning like a crazy racetrack. There wasn't just one or two of the twisty turnpikes, but as many as ten or twelve – some narrow while others wide. Some had dangerously sharp corners while others reminded him of the lazy river that most water amusement parks had, with soft corners and barely any surprises.

"Come on!" his opponent grumbled angrily, voice showing his annoyance at how the battle was playing out. "This is pathetic! Salandros, let's end this."

His blood red blade began to glow as his bitbeast emerged, eager to end the battle in a flurry of flames. It looked almost like a salamander bathed in fire as it let out a shriek before diving to engulf Tala's blade in flames.

"Wolborg," he whispered, eyes growing wide as his pupils dilated. "Let's destroy them."

A sinister growl shook his blade as his bitbeast struck out as it emerged, claws encased in ice. The mane and tail of the wolf shimmered with the crystallized water as it howled to the unseen moon, drawing power into it's thick coat of fur.

"Novae Rog," he grinned evilly, voice barely audibly.

Wolborg opened his massive jaws in what could only be a smile of his own before letting out a bark, fur beginning to stand on end as the attack began.

From the thick coat a dangerous wind began to roar, snow and ice merging with the dangerous weather as it swirled through the air, encapsulating the fire salamander, who was releasing it's own attack of flames and heat, trying to battle the cold with the opposite element.

"Hotter!" Ricardo shouted, angry at how they seemed to be at a stalemate. "Salandros, make it HOTTER!"

His bitbeast let out a roar of its own, the flames it was producing gaining in strength until a whirlwind of orange, fiery tongues began licking away the storm produced from the frozen wolf. As it extinguished the cold it seemed to grow in size, gaining power as the first spread and grew, until it towered over Wolborg, whose attack was beginning to loose strength.

"SQUISH HIM!"

Salandros did just as he was told, a giant fist coming down upon the wolf. An ear splitting yelp made many people wince as the bitbeast seemed to shatter like glass, blade following the same fate barely a second later as Tala lost the battle.

Stunned, the redhead could only stand there and watch the remains of his poor blade fall to the ground in pieces.

The fiery lizard seemed to grin at him as he felt a strange tugging in his chest – or was it in his mind? He didn't really know... All he did know was that by the time Ricardo retrieved his blade it felt as thought something inside of him was missing.

"Tala?" Spencer prodded as he gently rested a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "You alright?"

"I... don't know..." he replied, voice far away as he allowed himself to be led from the dish.

His friends were worried, he could tell by their faces, but for some reason he felt... disconnected from them as he sat down and stared straight ahead.

"What's wrong?" frowned Bryan as he stood and stretched, getting ready for his match.

"I don't know," Tala repeated with a small frown. "It feels all empty."

"Any advice for me?"

His blue eyes found his friend, though Bryan wasn't sure if he was actually being seen or not. "Don't lose."

"Sounds like a plan," he nodded before walking off, the squirming of something in his stomach making him worry. Tala was strong – very strong – and he was snuffed out like a candle. How was he suppose to win with _that_ thought?

Alejandro was his opponent, but he tried to think of him as just another blader as they both let their blades loose into the dish.

Skirting sharp corners, climbing higher and higher, Bryan calmed his nerves by letting his mind only focus on the battle. He had his own power, his own skills. He was in a league that differed from Tala's, but they were still at the same level. He could win this – no, he _was_ going to win this battle and nothing was going to stand in his way.

Nothing.

Not even the massively _huge_ and slightly ugly dragon that forced it's way out of his opponent's blade, roaring loud enough that some spectators' glasses cracked from the intensity. "Holy shit."

"That's right, just keep running," Alejandro urged, eyes wide with an unknown bloodlust – a look Bryan actually knew quite well.

"If you want me, then come and get me!" he challenged in return. "Falborg, let's go!"

The shriek of an angry eagle could be heard as his own bitbeast emerged from his blade, wings beating with enough strength to destroy buildings.

"You can't beat us – just give up," taunted the Italian as his bitbeast swooped in for an attack, jaws opened in an attempt to chomp down on the soaring eagle.

"Stroblitz!"

A wicked wind seemed to escape Falborg, some of which proved to be more than razor sharp as it nicked at the dragon's protective armour, leaving scrapes, gashes and dents. To the dish the attack destroyed many of the roads, letting them crumble in ruin, littering the dish with rubble.

Alejandro let out a swear as the wind whipped by him, making his hair fly in every direction. Angrily tucking away the stranges in hopes of clearing his vision, he did so just in time to watch his beyblade be torn to shreds by the invisible wind. "What? **No! I can't loose!**" he screamed. "Drackus!"

"That's for Tala," Bryan sneered, reclaiming his blade from the semi destroyed dish before turning his back to Alejandro and walking back to his team's bench.

"Way to go," Spencer grinned. "Awesome job."

"Yeah, too bad it didn't help Non-Responsive over there." Bryan jerked his thumb in Tala's direction.

The redhead didn't seem to hear the remark as he stared straight ahead, watching Jazzman the entire time.

"Spencer? Kai? Which one of you gets to battle next?"

"Kai does," the tall one replied as he crossed his arms over his large chest. "He's the strongest out of the two of us, and team captain – he gets the honour of destroying their last blader."

"Kai?"

The blue haired youth stood up, face set.

"Kick their ass."

"I plan on it," he smirked, eyes showing Bryan that he was more than serious about avenging Tala.

Unlike The Blitzkrieg Boys' decision to send in their strongest blader, aka their captain, Giro de Destino didn't do the same. Their captain sat on the bench, watching his only sister march up to the dish with a look that said if she lost there would be consequences – dire consequences.

There looked to be fire in her eyes as she gazed over at her opponent, who's look matched her own. "You're going down," she told him with a hiss.

He didn't bother replying as he readied himself for battle.

And it was a battle.

Both blades were evenly matched, tearing through the rubble left behind from Bryan's match, clashing and slamming through obstacles and each other until the dish was filled with soaring sparks.

"Centauris, come on out and pound him to the ground!" Mirabella called, opening her arms wide, as though inviting her bitbeast to emerge.

Answering the call, the centaur bitbeast came forth, hooves chiming with each step it took. A crossbow held in the beast's massive hands took aim before it let loose a flurry of arrows, never letting up, even as Kai's blade swerved like a drunk to avoid the attack.

"Dranzer, let's heat this up! Flaming Gig!"

Soaring out of his blade, Dranzer the phoenix's wings spread wide as it let out a screech before bursting into flames.

With each beat of the bitbeast's wings it gained speed, rushing after the galloping centaur who never let up it's volley of arrows, which seemed to just burst into ash as they struck the flaming creature. Just before Dranzer caught up, Centauris whipped around and readied it's last shot, taking careful aim in the mere second it had to gather it's strength into one final arrow.

The moment their bitbeasts collided there was a massive explosion of force unknown, sending everything not held down flying as smoke filled the stadium at an alarming rate.

The heat from the explosion set off the fire alarm and it wasn't long before everyone was soaked to the bone due to the sprinkler system kicking in, but none dared to leave their seats as they waited for the smoke to clear.

Finally the sound of a spinning blade broke through the din and the crowd cheered loudly at the sight of Mirabella's blade still in action. Kai's however, was out of the dish, wobbling dangerously before coming to a stop, it's attack ring nearly destroyed from the fight. "No..." he whispered, falling to his knees from the shock of loosing the battle. It felt as though he was empty, the loss was so great.

His vision wavered before pitching to black, unaware of something ripping into his core, taking away the one thing he needed to live.

...

"Kai," a voice called – a voice he knew so very well but couldn't quite place. "Wake up, dammit." The sting from a slap forced his eyes to open. They met with a set of amber ons, who were frowning at him, the face framed by hair the colour of the night sky. "About time."

"Hi," he said rather blandly as he sat up and rubbed him head.

"How are you feeling?" Wolfy asked, worried by how he'd passed out after loosing but trying her hardest not to show any signs of such an emotion.

"I don't know," he replied, echoing Tala's earlier answer without realizing it.

"That's what Zombie Number One told us after losing," Bryan informed the girls as he looked over his shoulder at Tala, who was sitting beside a worried Nyx. "It's like they lost themselves – or whatever it is that makes them... them."

"That actually makes sense," Sunny nodded slowly, looking from one boy to the other. "They aren't just winning the battles, but they're collecting prizes when they do it."

"What kind of prize are we talking about?" the tall one inquired with a frown. "Their personalities?"

"No," she shook her head, a worried expression growing more prominent on her face with each passing moment. "What makes them _them_. Something that, without it, we lose the will to live."

"Which is...?"

"Their souls."


	28. Chapter 28

_A/N: All good things must come to an end – a sad truth, but a truth none the less. I had so much fun rewriting this fic and reading your wonderful reviews really helped me to stay interested in the story. So thank you, everyone, for you support! It'll never be forgotten._

**Chapter 28**

Round five of the tournament was postponed due to the passing of the team members from round three. This in turn caused much anxiety for both The Blitzkrieg Boys, who were officially out of the tournament, and The Barbershop Quartet, who were busy watching over Kai and Tala.

Both boys seemed to be lost in their own world when the news of the match being delayed until the next day arrived. It didn't seem to phase them any to learn of this, nor did it seem to bother them that they were on a deadline, no pun intended.

"I don't know what to do," Nyx whispered to Sunny as she sat down next to the blond, eyes never leaving Tala, watching him as he gazed out the window in a bored manner. Neither he nor Kai had so much as touched the food they'd tried to get them to eat, let alone do much else. All they seemed to want to do was sit there and stare at whatever was in front of them.

"The only thing we can do is try and get them to continue living until our next match. We also have to beat the Romanos, or we'll end up much like these guys."

"Here's hoping they don't cancel the tournament..."

...

Though there was much debating involved, by both those in charge of the tournament, the police and the public, the tournament was not cancelled. There was only one match left, after all – what's the worse that could happen?

Because of this conclusion, a doctor was sent in to check on the remaining teams and, after an extensive session with Tala and Kai, came to the conclusion that the boys were both depressed and prescribed anti-depressants. Bryan, feeling as though he were now in charge of the team (as their captain seemed to have fallen into some sort of mental pit) took charge and flushed the medication down the toilet, knowing full well that the little pills wouldn't make anything better.

He also knew that during the first few weeks of taking anti-depressants the urge for suicide could increase and that's the last thing any of them wanted to happen.

"Girls," Spencer suddenly said, looking up at the team.

"What is it?" Nadia inquired with a tilt of her head.

"Take them down."

"It'll be our pleasure," growled Wolfy, fists clenched tightly at her sides as she looked over at Kai. They were going to pay dearly for what they did to him.

...

"Todays battles will take place in your classic beydish," Jazzman announced to the crowd as the battle arena was uncovered.

"I want first dibs," Wolfy told them with an angry growl as she stalked forward, not waiting to see if they agreed with her decision or not.

"Looks like I get to take on shorty," Mirabella sneered, actually quite happy to have the spitfire as her opponent. It would make things both fun and easy. People who talked as much as Wolfy did were the easiest to beat.

"Shut it and let's go."

"Fiesty, are you not."

"3! 2! 1!"

Neither girl waited for the rest to be said, instead both launched at the same time, blades clashing against one another in mid air.

"This is for what you did to Kai!" Wolfy nearly screamed as a wicked cold wind began to blow around the stadium, sending her long hair rippling. "For what you did to Tala and everyone else! YAMI! I SUMMON YOU!"

The lights flickered dangerously before dimming as a shadow rose from Wolfy's dark blade, forming into a wolf with fangs that overlapped it's bottom lip and nine lushes tails which stood nearly on end due to the hatred it held for it's opponent. The tips of it's dark ears were lined with tuffs of white fur while the tuffs of fur near it's ankles were a contrasting shade of blue. The white quarter moon on it's forehead seemed to shine like the moon as it looked down at Mirabella, lips curled back in a snarl as she summoned her own centaurian bitbeast, who emerged with ferocity, attacking without hesitation or warning.

"Destiny's Arrow!"

The shinning arrow passed through the frost crystals that made Yami, causing Wolfy to laugh loudly. When Mirabella finally directed her attention to the human aspect of her battle she barely held back a gasp. The girl seemed to be taking on traits of her bitbeasts. Her eyes shone as white as Yami's, teeth pointed, shown only because her lips were also curled back in a snarl. The aura of coldness around her seemed to grow as the lights dimmed further until the entire stadium was bathed in chilly darkness.

"Now, Yami," she whispered, voice slashing through the darkness like a whip. "Let's finish this up. Frozen Flame!"

The bitbeast let out a long howl as it slowly became visible in the ever growing darkness. It's mane rippling in an unseen breeze, turning into frozen flames that eagerly licked the air, tasting for treats that weren't yet prepared. The tuffs on Yami's ankles and even the nine tails took on the same fate as they burst into cold flames that hastily encased the wolf's body, leaving only the glowing eyes and moon tattoo visible in the rippling mass. "Go now, Yami," Wolfy's voice could be heard saying from somewhere seemingly far away. "Destroy her."

Another long howl and Yami vanished. The sound of two mythical creatures in battle could be heard through the darkness. Once and a while a flash of something could be seen, but it was gone so fast some thought they'd only imagined it.

It was only once the lights suddenly came back on and Jazzman found Wolfy's blade wobbling dangerously and Mirabella's completely destroyed did the crowd begin cheering wildly.

Not waiting a beat, her teammates surrounded the exhausted Wolfy, who proceeded to grasp onto consciousness with every fibre of her being.

"You had to use that attack, did you," Nadia grumbled as she, along with Nyx, helped their comrade to the bench, where they got her to sit with her back propped up against the wall.

"Of course. She was the one who hurt Kai..."

"Right. Even though using that attack at full power could _kill_ both you and Yami," Sunny sighed heavily, rubbing her brow. "Your lucky her blade broke when it did – any longer and you might have died."

"Hey, it was my fight and I won it."

"Barely!"

"I still won. Now we just gotta beat the other two."

"Actually, we just need to win one more battle," Nyx pointed out, trying to be helpful. "Since it's best two out of three, after two we're automatically the victors."

"Yes, but since it's a championship battle we still have to fight through all three rounds," Nadia explained as she took out her blade and checked to make sure it was secure in the launcher. "No worries though. I'll do my best."

"If you don't win I will hold it against you!" Wolfy called out as she made her way up to the dish as Jazzman eagerly announced the next bladers, saying something about another epic battle on the horizon, while hoping the lights stayed on so they could witness it this time around.

The countdown came and went and both blades shot into the dish with such ferocity that sparks flew before they were even remotely close to one another.

Ricardo ordered his blade around with the precision of a tactical commander, something his eldest sibling must have taught him the day before while waiting for the tournament to resume.

All of Nadia's attacks missed their mark while all of his landed. His fiery salamander bitbeast was soon called out, causing his blade to leave a scorching trail in it's wake.

Knowing she now had little time to react, Nadia decided to show her hand and to not hold back an ounce of power. In that one moment of time she understood why Wolfy had done what she'd done.

"Trignar!"

Her bitbeast rose above the crowd from the beam of red light that escaped her blade. Only once it died did Trignar become visible. The beast turned into a fox with crimson fur, tufts of white fur on it's front paws and colouring the tip of it's luscious tail. A yip sounded as it dodged a surprise attack that grazed it's hindquarters.

"You think your little fox will stop my bitbeast?" her opponent laughed loudly. "Let's go, Salandros! Inferno!"

The flamed lizard seemed to morph into a walking ball of flames, shooting right for Trignar. But even with only a split second to spare Trignar jumped high, flipping out of the way. "Heat Wave!" Nadia shouted, arms thrown wide. "Full power!"

Trignar let out a war cry before turning into a shimmering echo of the fox it had once been. Body now made of pure heat, it shot around the room several times before diving at the opponent. The resulting explosion was worse by far than the one from when Kai had battled against Mirabella. Cracks began to form in the walls, spider webbing outwards at an alarming rate.

It was only once the smoke cleared did Jazzman notice that only the Romano's blade was still spinning. "Looks like we have a winner!"

"No!" Nadia shouted as her gaze fell on her broken blade. A tugging at her heart shattered her world as tears ran down her cheeks, mourning the loss of her blade and perhaps her bitbeast.

"Nadia, come on," Nyx whispered to her friend as she led her over to their bench and sat her down beside Wolfy. "Nadia?"

She muttered something under her breath.

"What?" she blinked.

Nadia's eyes locked onto Nyx's, or at least the brunette though she was looking at her. "I don't know."

"Shit," Sunny swore, hand clutching her long hair, twirling it around her fingers without even realizing what she was doing. "Nyx, you really have to beat them – not only did they get Kai and Tala but.."

"I know," she interrupted the blond with an angry sigh. "I know." Pushing herself into a standing position, she turned to look over at the Romanos, who were all smirking in their direction. This was it – there wouldn't be another chance to do it. They had to be stopped, and soon – before it was too late.

To Nyx's unfortunate luck, Carlos stepped up to the dish as her opponent, a cocky grin upon his face as she glared in his direction, Jazzman's voice a distant buzz as he announced the bladers and told them to get ready.

Her body on auto pilot, as her mind was obviously elsewhere, Nyx readied herself to launch her blade, body following Jazzman's commands on cue. Carlos seemed to realize her head wasn't completely in the game as the battle started, his grin growing larger with each passing second as they blades sailed around the dish, locked in combat.

"You cannot win!" Carlos taunted with a laugh as his metallic blade smashed into hers, sparks flying high in the air from the force of the impact. Her blade wobbled slightly before gathering it's strength and returning the attack with one of it's own.

"Like hell I won't," she growled, voice dangerous as her attention fixated itself on the battle taking place in the dish.

Time seemed to stretch on forever as the battle progressed, neither being able to gain an advantage as their blades clashed, dodged and raced around the dish time after time.

"This is tiresome," the Italian boy complained bitterly. "Gryphos! Come out and _play_!"

From his blade shot an orange light that twisted and turned into a massive gryphon with eyes that shone like the sun. The mystical beast let out an ear splitting screech once fully formed, causing Nyx to cover her ears in pain.

"Now attack!"

"Nefaya!"

A roar shook the air as the back of Nyx's neck began to tingle, her beast transferring itself from it's vessel to the spinning blade before allowing itself to be released. It rose from the blade, clawing the air in it's escape, jaw opened wide as it let out another ear splitting roar.

The panther's jet black fur was the colour of the night sky, it's eyes glowing like the moon itself. Silver tipped armour protected the bitbeast's forehead, chest and hindquarters, leaving it's dark purple wings bare.

"Your little kitten does not stand a chance," sneered her opponent. "Gryphos, let us go! Orbal Blitz!"

The gryphon braced it's muscled haunches as it opened it's beak wide, drawing in energy. The beasts' golden wings beat against the air, as though to help gather more power before letting loose dozens of golden spheres that shot around the stadium at breathtaking speeds.

Nefaya let out a growl as it was forced to take flight, dodging the attacks by executing terribly uncomfortable aerial acrobatics. Some of the balls of energy hit their mark, causing the feline bitbeast to let out yelps of pain. "Fight back," Nyx urged, hands clenched into fists as she watched her blade and bitbeast being hammered by the Romano. "You can do it! Celestial Claw!"

Listening to her vessel, the panther unsheathed it's claws, which shone with an eery light, before pouncing onto the back of the gryphon.

They sunk into the flesh of the gryphon like sharp razors, tearing through feathers and muscle tissue with ease as the beast balked and screamed, beating it's wings irritably as it tried to rid itself of the unwanted attacker.

Around the stadium they fought, teeth and claws flashing in a never ending cycle of pain and growls. "Nefaya, again, Celestial Claw!"

"Gryphos, you do not DARE LOSE!" Carlos shouted, voice hot with rage as his eyes burned with a dangerous fury. "ORBAL BLITZ THAT THING!"

"Nefaya isn't a thing!" Nyx shot back with a look that matched his own. "Nefaya will win this and you _can't stop it!_"

"Watch me!"

The beasts separated themselves, circling each other before attacking once more, the brawl becoming more and more ferocious with each passing second as fur and feathers flew everywhere, roaring, growling and shrieking filling the air like an out of tune orchestra.

"NOW!" Carlos nearly screamed, seconds before another blade joined the fray in the dish, a fiery salamander appearing in the air without delay to double team the panther.

"WHOA! Looks like Giro de Destino just broke the most important rule, thus disqualifying them from the tournament," Jazzman shouted into his microphone, obviously shocked by this turn of events. "Battle's over, folks, call back your blades."

"Shut up," Carlos ordered Jazzman in a snipped voice. "Who cares about this stupid tournament."

"Pundolar!" A white and gold beyblade shot into the dish, evening out the odds as a pure white pegasus emerged onto the scene, golden hooves chiming like bells as they hit the ground, it's matching wings beating in rage at the cheaters' nerve of battling two against one. "Need a hand?" Sunny grinned over at Nyx.

"Like you wouldn't believe."

"Tag team?"

"Sounds perfect. Ready?"

"Born."

"Let's go!" they shouted in unison, voices echoing around the stadium. "Pundolar! Nefaya! DESTROY THEM! Solar Strike! Lunar Strike!"

The mythical beasts jumped back from their opponents, standing side by side, two complete opposites in every way; night and day, carnivore and herbivore, predator and prey. Yet together they completed one another as nothing else could ever hope to achieve.

Their opponents, the golden gryphon and fiery salamander, weren't such a well balanced team as they never worked with another being, no matter the circumstances. They were loners, barbarians who trusted no-one, who chose no sides but their own and thus they fought alone even when standing side by side against a common enemy.

The panther and pegasus' wings began to glow before bursting into glittering shards that filled the room with both darkness and light in equal portions.

"We're a team," Sunny began, her stormy grey eyes unamused by their opponents' tactics.

"And as a team we will crush you," continued Nyx. "All for one."

"And one for all," finished the blond, a smile growing on both their faces milliseconds before the stadium was bathed in complete and utter darkness.

The shards that had once been Nefaya's wings began to glow with an eery light, hovering innocently in the air. Salandros, growing impatient, burst into a pillar of flames in hopes of lighting the stadium, but the light that came off the curious flames seemed to eaten by the darkness itself.

A growl of laughter came from the darkness seconds before the black panther attacked, claws like knives made from the darkness itself. They sliced through the flames as though they were nothing but illusions, claws tearing through the fire lizard's body with ease, destroying both blade and beast in the aftermath of the attack.

Retreating, the panther was gone in the blink of an eye, just in time for the stadium to be bathed in a harsh light. Everyone shielded their eyes from the sudden burst of light, cowering from the glare as Pundolar appeared, a mere shadow in the midst of the painful show of fake sunlight.

It's golden hooves drew in as much as they could hold, glowing in a warm fashion as the beast raced after the gryphon, who hid it's eyes from the harsh light that had blinded it.

What happened next was hard to see as most people's eyes were closed or hidden behind hands, arms or clothing. The sound of shrieking made them shudder in dread until suddenly everything was silent except the faint sound of spinning blades.

The lights flickered back on as the harsh glare of Pundolar's attack dissipated into nothing.

Carlos' blade was nothing but a memory, it's remaining pieces scattered throughout the dish like every day garbage.

Nyx and Sunny's blades weren't much better as they wobbled dangerously, nicks and cuts scarring them to show how harsh the battle had been.

Jazzman didn't announce them as the winners – the Romanos had broken the rules and they had followed. He wasn't even sure if either of them were still in the tournament, let alone privileged to the title of World Champions.

From the remains Carlos' blade eery shapes began to emerge, swirling around in the air before disappearing like ghosts. Nyx and Sunny watched them without a word, letting their blades come to stop in the dish. It was only once the shapes had gone did they retrieve their cracked blades, empty of the bitbeasts who'd helped them save their friends. The empty echo in their minds told them that they'd used up all of Nefaya and Pundolar's strength and thus they'd gone. Where? they weren't sure, but somewhere deep down they knew they were still alive... somewhere... waiting to be found again.

"Come on," Sunny grinned at Nyx, ignoring the crowd, Jazzman and their former opponents. "Let's go see the boys."

The brunette's face lit up at the thought of Tala and how he was now safe and sound.

"Yes. Let's."

_**End.**_


End file.
